Qr code initiative: checkout

ABSTRACT

Systems, computer-implemented methods, apparatus, and/or computer program products that can facilitate electronic generation and/or display of enhanced, transaction-based QR codes are provided. In various embodiments, a system can receive, from an electronic beacon of a point-of-sale device, context data characterizing a transaction facilitated by the point-of-sale device. In various instances, the system can generate a quick response (QR) code based on the context data and based on financial instrument data, such that the context data and the financial instrument data are embedded within or correlated to the QR code. In various aspects, the system can visually render the QR code on an electronic display, such that the QR code is scannable by the point-of-sale device.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The subject disclosure relates generally to quick response (QR) codes,and more specifically to computing devices that employ enhanced,transaction-based QR codes for improved privacy and fraud detection.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, when a commercial transaction occurs between a firstentity (e.g., a buyer, user, consumer, client, customer) and a secondentity (e.g., a seller, merchant, vendor, product/service provider),computerized payment processing systems and/or techniques can be used tofacilitate and/or transfer payment from the first entity to the secondentity. Such conventional computerized payment processing systems and/ortechniques generally involve the first entity presenting a financialinstrument (e.g., a credit card, a debit card) to the second entity at apoint-of-sale device (e.g., a credit card reader and/or scanner). Thepoint-of-sale device reads/scans the financial instrument to extractpayment information (e.g., credit card account number, bank accountnumber) that is encoded on and/or within the financial instrument (e.g.,encoded on and/or within the financial instrument via a microchip and/orvia a magstripe). The point-of-sale device can subsequently transmit theextracted payment information to a payment processing system forprocessing, and the payment processing system can relay the extractedpayment information to a transaction settlement system for settlement(e.g., to actually facilitate the transfer of funds from an accountassociated with the first entity to an account associated with thesecond entity). Such conventional computerized payment processingsystems and/or techniques are vulnerable to fraud and/or misuse by thefirst entity, and are generally static and un-customizable by the firstentity.

Systems and/or techniques that can ameliorate one or more of theseissues are desirable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system that facilitates enhanced, context-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example, non-limitingcomputer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced, context-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 3 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including financial instrument information thatfacilitates enhanced, context-based QR code generation in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including geo-location and time/date informationthat facilitates enhanced, context-based QR code generation inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 5 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including produce/service and price/valueinformation that facilitates enhanced, context-based QR code generationin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 6 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including merchant identity and/or user identifyinformation that facilitates enhanced, context-based QR code generationin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 7 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including a QR code and a display command thatfacilitates enhanced, context-based QR code generation in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 8 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, context-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 9 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, context-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 10 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system that facilitates enhanced, restriction-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 11 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced,restriction-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 12 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including geo-fencing and temporal restrictions thatfacilitates enhanced, restriction-based QR code generation in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 13 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including product/service and value/pricerestrictions that facilitates enhanced, restriction-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 14 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including merchant identity restrictions thatfacilitates enhanced, restriction-based QR code generation in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 15 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, restriction-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 16 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, restriction-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 17 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, restriction-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 18 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system that facilitates enhanced, biometric-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 19 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced,biometric-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 20 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including biometric signatures that facilitatesenhanced, biometric-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

FIG. 21 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, biometric-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 22 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system that facilitates enhanced, gesture-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 23 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced,gesture-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 24 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including authorized gestures that facilitatesenhanced, gesture-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

FIG. 25 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, gesture-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 26 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, gesture-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 27 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system that facilitates enhanced, privacy-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 28 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced,privacy-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 29 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including preference, contact, and biographicalinformation that facilitates enhanced, privacy-based QR code generationin accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 30 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, privacy-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 31 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system that facilitates enhanced, persona-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 32 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced,persona-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

FIG. 33 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system including multiple personas that facilitatesenhanced, persona-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

FIG. 34 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, persona-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 35 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, persona-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.

FIG. 36 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 37 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced QRcode processing in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

FIG. 38 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that facilitates enhanced,persona-based QR code in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 39 illustrates a block diagram of an example, non-limitingoperating environment in which one or more embodiments described hereincan be facilitated.

FIG. 40 illustrates an example networking environment operable toexecute various implementations described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is merely illustrative and is notintended to limit embodiments and/or application or uses of embodiments.Furthermore, there is no intention to be bound by any expressed orimplied information presented in the preceding Background section, or inthe Detailed Description section.

One or more embodiments are now described with reference to thedrawings, wherein like referenced numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea more thorough understanding of the one or more embodiments. It isevident, however, in various cases, that the one or more embodiments canbe practiced without these specific details.

Conventionally, when a commercial transaction occurs between a firstentity (e.g., a buyer, user, consumer, client, customer) and a secondentity (e.g., a seller, merchant, vendor, product/service provider),computerized payment processing systems and/or techniques can be used tofacilitate and/or transfer payment from the first entity to the secondentity. Such conventional computerized payment processing systems and/ortechniques generally involve the first entity presenting a financialinstrument (e.g., a credit card, a debit card) to the second entity at apoint-of-sale device (e.g., a credit card reader and/or scanner). Thepoint-of-sale device reads/scans the financial instrument to extractpayment information (e.g., credit card account number, bank accountnumber) that is encoded on and/or within the financial instrument (e.g.,stored on and/or within the financial instrument via a microchip and/orvia a magstripe). The point-of-sale device can subsequently transmit theextracted payment information to a payment processing system forprocessing, which can then relay the extracted payment information to atransaction settlement system for settlement (e.g., to actuallyfacilitate the transfer of funds from a financial account associatedwith the first entity to a financial account associated with the secondentity).

Such conventional computerized payment processing systems and/ortechniques are vulnerable to fraud and/or misuse. For example, it ispossible that the first entity can have stolen the financial instrumentfrom the true owner of the financial instrument. In such case, the firstentity can receive a product/service from the second entity withoutproperly paying for the product/service. After all, since the financialinstrument does not truly belong to the first entity in such example,the payment information encoded on and/or within the financialinstrument does not correspond to the first entity. Yet, conventionalcomputerized payment processing systems and/or techniques neverthelesspermit the first entity to present the financial instrument to thesecond entity as if the first entity were the true owner of thefinancial instrument. So, in such case, the first entity presents thefinancial instrument to the second entity, the first entity abscondswith the product/service, and the true owner is wrongly charged for theproduct/service. Conventional computerized payment processing systemsare vulnerable to such fraud.

As another example, suppose the true owner of the financial instrumenttemporarily lends the financial instrument to the first entity subjectto certain use restrictions and/or conditions specified by the trueowner. For example, the true owner can permit the first entity to spendat most X amount of money in a given transaction (e.g., a spending cap),the true owner can permit the first entity to purchase/rent onlyproducts/services from merchant Y (e.g., authorizing use of thefinancial instrument with only certain enumerated merchants), and/or thetrue owner can permit the first entity to purchase/rent onlyproduct/service Z and not other types of products/services (e.g.,authorizing use of the financial instrument with only certain enumeratedproducts/services). As a more specific example, a parent (e.g., trueowner) can lend their credit card to their child (e.g., first entity),and the parent can instruct the child to charge no more than X dollarsto the credit card, to use the credit card only at merchant Y, and/or topurchase/rent only product/service Z. As another example, a credit cardcompany can extend credit to the first entity subject to such specifieduse restrictions and/or conditions. In any case, conventionalcomputerized payment processing systems and/or techniques are notconcerned at all with such use restrictions and/or conditions. In otherwords, conventional computerized payment processing systems and/ortechniques do not convey such use restrictions and/or conditions to thesecond entity or otherwise provide any safeguards for enforcing such userestrictions and/or conditions. So, with conventional computerizedpayment processing systems and/or techniques, it is possible for thefirst entity to use the financial instrument in violation of these userestrictions and/or conditions (e.g., the first entity can use thefinancial instrument in a transaction that is priced above X dollars,the first entity can use the financial instrument in a transaction witha merchant other than merchant Y, and/or the first entity can use thefinancial instrument in a transaction for products/services other thanproduct/service Z).

Such conventional computerized payment processing systems and/ortechniques are also static and un-customizable. As mentioned above,conventional computerized payment processing systems and/or techniquesinvolve a financial instrument (e.g., presented by the first entity)being scanned/read by a point-of-sale device (e.g., owned and/oroperated by the second entity) so as to extract payment information thatis encoded on and/or within the financial instrument. As a simpleexample, a customer can walk into a merchant's store, can select aproduct for purchase from the merchant's shelves, and can present acredit card to the merchant at a point-of-sale device of the merchant,and the point-of-sale device can scan/read the credit card so as toextract the customer's credit card number. In this way, paymentinformation is conveyed and/or transferred from the first entity to thesecond entity. However, in conventional computerized payment processingsystems and/or techniques, only payment information is conveyed and/ortransferred in such way. In other words, only payment information (e.g.,a static/unchanging credit card number) is encoded/stored on/within thefinancial instrument and/or otherwise correlated/mapped to the financialinstrument; other types of potentially useful information pertaining tothe first entity are not stored/encoded on/within the financialinstrument and/or otherwise correlated/mapped to the financialinstrument in any way (e.g., context-based information regarding aparticular transaction is not stored/encoded on/within the financialinstrument and/or otherwise correlated/mapped to the financialinstrument; transaction-based restrictions, conditions, and/ortriggering criteria are not stored/encoded on/within the financialinstrument and/or otherwise correlated/mapped to the financialinstrument; preferences, contact information, and/or biographicalinformation of the first entity are not stored/encoded on/within thefinancial instrument and/or otherwise correlated/mapped to the financialinstrument). In some cases, the point-of-sale device and/or a paymentprocessing system can subsequently utilize the extracted paymentinformation to look up in a backend database certain additionalinformation pertaining to the first entity (e.g., once the merchantextracts the customer's credit card number, the merchant can look up thecredit card number in an appropriate database to determine whether thecredit card number is valid and/or to determine whether the credit cardnumber is past its expiration date). However, this can increase backendprocessing time and/or can result in unnecessary expenditure ofcomputing resources. After all, in such case, such additionalinformation is not stored, encoded, encrypted, and/or indicated directlyon and/or within the financial instrument itself.

Moreover, in conventional computerized payment processing systems and/ortechniques, the information stored/encoded on/within a financialinstrument is completely static. That is, the information that isstored, encoded, encrypted, and/or indicated directly on and/or withinthe financial instrument cannot be altered and/or amended once thefinancial instrument is created (e.g., the information stored on themagstripe of a credit card cannot be changed; instead, a differentcredit card with a different magstripe would need to be manufactured tofacilitate different payment information). Overall, conventionalcomputerized payment processing systems and/or techniques encode/storeonly static payment information on the financial instrument; they do notpermit the first entity to change, supplement, and/or customize theinformation encoded/stored on and/or within the financial instrument.

Various embodiments of the subject innovation can address one or more ofthese technical issues/problems by facilitating computerized generationof enhanced and/or enriched transaction-based quick response (QR) codesfor improved privacy and/or fraud detection. One or more embodimentsdescribed herein include systems, computer-implemented methods,apparatus, and/or computer-program products that can facilitate thedigital creation and/or generation of context-based and/ortransaction-based QR codes using smart devices (e.g., smart phones,smart tablets, smart personal digital assistants, laptop computers,desktop computers, vehicle-integrated computers, and/or any othersuitable computing devices). In various instances, a first entity (e.g.,a buyer, user, consumer, client, customer) can possess a smart deviceand can desire to purchase/rent a product/service from a second entity(e.g., a seller, merchant, vendor, product/service provider). In variousaspects, embodiments of the subject innovation can leverage the smartdevice in order to safely, securely, and/or privately transferelectronic payment information from the first entity to the secondentity. Specifically, in various cases, embodiments of the subjectinnovation can be implemented as software, hardware, and/or any suitablecombination of software and/or hardware on the smart device, which canenable the smart device to digitally and/or electronically generate acontext-based and/or transaction-based QR code (and/or any othersuitable optical barcode) representing the payment information of thefirst entity.

Although the herein disclosure often refers to the electronic generationof QR codes, this is exemplary and non-limiting. In various aspects,embodiments of the subject innovation can select and/or identifysuitable QR codes (e.g., based on transactional context) from a storedset of already-generated QR codes. In such cases, rather than generatinga QR code in real-time based on a known transactional context, variousembodiments of the subject innovation can identify from a stored set ofalready-generated QR codes a QR code that corresponds to, that iscorrelated with, and/or that is mapped to the known transactionalcontext.

In various aspects, a QR code (e.g., a quick response code) can be anoptical barcode (e.g., a machine-readable optical label and/ormachine-readable optical image) that contains, represents, and/orindicates encoded information, and/or that is otherwisecorrelated/mapped to such encoded information. In various cases, anysuitable cryptographic technique and/or any suitable encoding mode canbe used to generate a QR code and/or to store, encrypt, encode, and/orembed information into a QR code, such as numeric, alphanumeric,byte/binary, and/or kanji. Once generated, a QR code can be displayed onany suitable electronic display (e.g., smart device screen, computermonitor, optical projector, hologram display) and/or can, in some cases,be printed and/or reproduced on any suitable tangible medium (e.g.,printed on paper and/or cardboard). In various instances, a QR code,once generated and displayed, can visually appear to be atwo-dimensional matrix and/or rectilinear grid of black and/or whitesquares, where the particular arrangement and/or pattern of the blackand/or white squares in the matrix/grid can represent, indicate, and/orcorrespond to stored, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded information.Although a QR code can be a two-dimensional matrix and/or rectilineargrid of black and/or white squares, this is exemplary and non-limiting.In some cases, a QR code can exhibit any suitable dimensionality (e.g.,can be a one-dimensional barcode), can exhibit any suitable shape (e.g.,can be circular, polygonal, slanted, irregular, and/or not necessarilyrectilinear), and/or can exhibit any suitable colors and/or combinationsof colors. In various aspects, the information stored, encoded,encrypted, and/or embedded within a QR code (and/or otherwise correlatedand/or mapped to the QR code) can be extracted, read, processed, and/orinterpreted by any suitable QR code scanner/reader (e.g., the QR codescanner/reader can capture an image of the QR code and/or can captureany other suitable optical characteristics of the QR code and can applyany suitable cryptographic technique to the captured image and/oroptical characteristics in order to decrypt the information that isstored, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded within the QR code and/orotherwise correlated/mapped to the QR code).

Thus, electronically generated QR codes can be used to securely and/orprivately transfer information from one entity to another. For example,the first entity can employ a computing device to electronicallygenerate a QR code by encrypting, encoding, and/or embedding desiredinformation into the QR code (and/or otherwise correlating/mapping thedesired information to the QR code via any suitable cryptographictechnique). In various instances, the computing device canelectronically display the electronically generated QR code to ascanner/reader device of the second entity (e.g., such that theelectronically generated QR code is visible to the scanner/reader deviceof the second entity). In various aspects, the scanner/reader device canscan, process, and/or decipher the desired information that isencrypted, encoded, and/or embedded within the QR code. Thescanner/reader device can then transmit the scanned information to apayment processing system for processing.

In various instances, embodiments of the subject innovation can applyand/or leverage the safe, secure, and/or private informationtransmission capabilities of electronically generated QR codes toenhance the fidelity and/or security of commercial transactions betweenentities (e.g., between buyers and sellers, between consumers andmerchants, between customers and vendors). Specifically, as mentionedabove, suppose that a first entity (e.g., a buyer, user, consumer,client, customer) desires to purchase/rent a product/service from asecond entity (e.g., a seller, merchant, vendor, product/serviceprovider). Moreover, suppose that the first entity possesses a smartdevice (e.g., smart phone and/or smart tablet). In various aspects, thesmart device can be outfitted with software and/or hardware that allowsthe smart device to electronically generate (e.g., via any suitablecryptographic, mathematical, statistical, and/or computationaltechniques) a QR code that contains, stores, encodes, embeds, indicates,and/or is correlated/mapped to payment information (e.g., credit cardnumber, bank account number) of the first entity. That is, the smartdevice can electronically create a QR code that represents the paymentinformation of the first entity, and the smart device can electronicallydisplay that QR code on its screen. In various cases, a point-of-saledevice (e.g., QR code scanner/reader device) of the second entity cancapture an image of the electronically generated QR code that isdisplayed on the screen of the smart device, and the point-of-saledevice can process, decrypt, decipher, and/or interpret (e.g., via anysuitable cryptographic, mathematical, statistical, and/or computationaltechniques) the electronically generated QR code so as to extract thepayment information that is contained, stored, encoded, encrypted,embedded, and/or represented in (and/or otherwise correlated/mapped to)the electronically generated QR code. In this way, the paymentinformation of the first entity can be safely, securely, and/orprivately transferred from the first entity to the second entity.

In various aspects, embodiments of the subject innovation can involvestoring, encoding, encrypting, and/or embedding other types ofpotentially useful information into the electronically generated QR code(and/or otherwise correlating/mapping such potentially usefulinformation to the electrically generated QR code), so as to enhance thesafety, security, and/or privacy of the transaction between the firstentity and the second entity and/or so as to reduce an amount and/ortime of backend processing. Specifically, in various instances,embodiments of the subject innovation can store, encode, encrypt, and/orembed into the electronically generated QR code (and/or can otherwisecorrelate/map to the electronically generated QR code) context-basedinformation regarding the transaction between the first entity and thesecond entity. In various cases, context-based information can includeany suitable metadata that describes and/or indicates the circumstancesand/or characteristics of the transaction between the first entity andthe second entity. Such context-based information can be cross-checkedby the point-of-sale device of the second entity in order to verifywhether the first entity is authorized to use the payment informationthat is encoded within and/or correlated to the electronically generatedQR code. In various other embodiments, such cross-checking can befacilitated by a payment processing system that is remote and/orseparate from the point-of-sale device.

Although the herein disclosure often discusses storing, encoding,encrypting, and/or embedding context-based information directly into QRcodes, this is exemplary and non-limiting. In some cases, rather thanstoring, encoding, encrypting, and/or embedding context-basedinformation directly into QR codes, various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can correlate and/or map via any suitable techniquecontext-based information to QR codes (e.g., can correlate and/or mapparticular context-based information to the particular optical barcodepattern exhibited by a particular QR code). In any case, any suitable QRcode generation and/or fabrication technique can be implemented invarious embodiments so that a displayed QR code corresponds to and/orotherwise represents desired information.

In some cases, such context-based information can include geo-locationinformation associated with the transaction. That is, the geographiclocation where the transaction is occurring can be specified,identified, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded into the electronicallygenerated QR code by the smart device (and/or can be otherwisecorrelated/mapped to the electronically generated QR code by the smartdevice). In various cases, the geographic location of the transactioncan be recited and/or indicated in any suitable way and/or at anysuitable level of granularity (e.g., continent, country, state/province,city, town, address, latitude, longitude, and/or elevation). In variousaspects, the geographic location of the transaction can be recordedand/or identified by any suitable global positioning system (GPS) device(and/or any other suitable geo-location sensor) that is incorporatedinto the smart device (e.g., many smart phones and/or smart tabletsinclude hardware and/or software that track and/or record geographiclocation of the smart device over time). In some cases, an electronicbeacon at or near the point-of-sale device can transmit a signal thatindicates and/or conveys the geographic location of the point-of-saledevice (e.g., the geographic location of the transaction). In such case,the smart device can receive the signal from the electronic beacon andcan incorporate the geographic location indicated by the electronicbeacon into the electronically generated QR code. In various cases, thesmart device can receive input (e.g., via a keyboard, touchscreen,buttons, voice commands, and/or any other suitable human-interfacedevice) from the first entity that identifies the geographic location ofthe transaction and/or of the smart device (e.g., the first entity canmanually identify the geographic information to be encoded into and/orotherwise correlated/mapped to the QR code). In various aspects, thegeographic location of the smart device that generates the QR code canbe considered as a proxy for the geographic location of the transactionfor which the QR code is intended to be used. For instance, if the QRcode is genuinely electronically generated for the particulartransaction in question (e.g., if there is no attempted fraud on thepart of the first entity), the smart device can generate the QR code atthe location of the transaction (e.g., at the location of thepoint-of-sale device) when the transaction is transpiring. So, thegeographic location of the smart device at the time that the smartdevice generates the QR code can match and/or correspond to thegeographic location of the transaction (e.g., can match and/orcorrespond to the geographic location of the point-of-sale device).Thus, in some cases, when the QR code is electronically generated(and/or selected) by the smart device, the geographic location of thesmart device at the time of generation of the QR code can beincluded/encoded within the QR code (and/or can be otherwisecorrelated/mapped to the QR code), and can be considered as a proxy forthe geographic location of the transaction for which the QR code iselectronically generated.

In various aspects, including/encoding the geographic location of thetransaction in (and/or otherwise correlating/mapping the geographiclocation of the transaction to) the electronically generated QR code canhelp to enhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of the transactionbetween the first entity and the second entity, because it allows thepoint-of-sale device and/or the payment processing system to cross-checkthe geographic location that is indicated by the electronicallygenerated QR code (e.g., that is, the geographic location of the smartdevice when the smart device generates/selects the QR code) with theactual geographical location of the transaction known by thepoint-of-sale device. For instance, suppose that the transaction betweenthe first entity and the second entity occurs at a geo-location A. In asituation where no fraud is attempted by the first entity, the smartdevice of the first entity can electronically generate the QR code whilethe first entity (and thus while the smart device) is physically locatedat the geo-location A (e.g., while physically near the point-of-saledevice and/or while physically within the store and/or building of thesecond entity). In such case, the smart device can incorporate, store,encode, encrypt, and/or embed both the payment information of the firstentity and an indication of the geo-location A (e.g., the location ofthe smart device at the time that the smart device generates the QRcode) into the electronically generated QR code. The smart device candisplay to the point-of-sale device the electronically generated QRcode, and the point-of-sale device can scan/read the electronicallygenerated QR code, thereby extracting both the payment information andthe indication of the geo-location A from the electronically generatedQR code. In various cases, the point-of-sale device can independentlytrack and/or know the location of the transaction (e.g., thepoint-of-sale device can already know its own geographic location and/orthe geographic location of the second entity's place of business). Thus,the point-of-sale device can transmit the electronically generated QRcode and the known geographic location of the transaction to a paymentprocessing system, and the payment processing system can compare thegeographic location encrypted within (and/or correlated to) theelectronically generated QR code with the known geographic location ofthe transaction (e.g., the known geographic location of thepoint-of-sale device). Since the geo-location A is the known geographiclocation of the transaction and since the electronically generated QRcode indicates and/or corresponds to the geo-location A, the paymentprocessing system can determine that the geographic information storedwithin and/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code matchesand/or corresponds to the known geographic location of the point-of-saledevice and/or transaction (e.g., and/or is within an acceptable rangeand/or distance of the known geographic location of the point-of-saledevice and/or transaction). Thus, the payment processing system candetermine that the transaction is valid and/or that no fraud is beingattempted by the first entity. Accordingly, the payment processingsystem can send a successful verification/validation message to thepoint-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-saledevice to accept the payment information stored within and/or correlatedto the electronically generated QR code and/or to provide theproduct/service to the first entity.

However, consider a situation where fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. In such case, the smart device of the first entity can bedifferent from the smart device that actually generates the QR code(e.g., the smart device of the first entity can have screen-captured anelectronically generated QR code that was generated by a different smartdevice on behalf of a different entity unaffiliated with the firstentity, meaning that the payment information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code can be unassociatedwith the first entity). For instance, suppose that the first entity usesits smart device to capture an image of an electronically generated QRcode generated and displayed by a different smart device of someunrelated entity at geo-location B (e.g., the unrelated entity can havebeen engaging in a transaction at geo-location B, not geo-location A, atthe time of generation of the QR code and/or at the time ofscreen-capture by the first entity). Thus, the electronically generatedQR code can include and/or be correlated to the payment information ofthe unrelated entity and can include and/or be correlated to anindication of the geo-location B, rather than the geo-location A. Invarious cases, the first entity can attempt to purchase someproduct/service from the second entity by using the payment informationof the unrelated entity (e.g., fraud). That is, the smart device candisplay to the point-of-sale device the electronically generated QRcode, and the point-of-sale device can scan/read the electronicallygenerated QR code, thereby extracting both the payment information andthe indication of the geo-location B from the electronically generatedQR code. As mentioned above, the point-of-sale device can independentlytrack and/or know its own location and/or the location of thetransaction. As also mentioned, the point-of-sale device can thentransmit both the electronically generated QR code (e.g., theinformation extracted from the electronically generated QR code) and theknown geo-location of the transaction to the payment processing system.In various cases, the payment processing system can compare theindicated geographic location encrypted within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code with the known geographic location ofthe transaction. Since the geo-location A is the known geographiclocation of the transaction and since the electronically generated QRcode indicates the geo-location B, the payment processing system candetermine that the geographic information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code does not match and/orcorrespond to the known geographic location of the point-of-sale deviceand/or the transaction (e.g., and/or is outside of an acceptable rangeand/or distance from the actual geographic location of the point-of-saledevice and/or the transaction). Thus, the payment processing system candetermine that the transaction is not valid and/or that fraud is beingattempted by the first entity. Accordingly, the payment processingsystem can send an unsuccessful verification/validation message to thepoint-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-saledevice to refuse to accept the payment information stored within theelectronically generated QR code and/or to refuse to provide theproduct/service to the first entity.

In some cases, the context-based information encoded with and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code can include time/dateinformation associated with the transaction. That is, the time and/ordate at which the transaction is occurring can be specified, identified,encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded into the electronically generated QRcode (and/or can be otherwise correlated/mapped to the electronicallygenerated QR code) by the smart device. In various cases, the timeand/or date of the transaction can be recited and/or indicated in anysuitable way and/or at any suitable level of granularity (e.g., decade,year, month, day, hour, minute, second, fraction of a second, morning,afternoon, evening, and/or season). In various aspects, the time and/ordate of the transaction can be recorded and/or identified by anysuitable clock (and/or any other suitable timing device such as anelectronic calendar) that is incorporated into the smart device (e.g.,many smart phones and/or smart tablets include hardware and/or softwarethat track and/or record time and/or date). In some cases, an electronicbeacon at or near the point-of-sale device can transmit a signal thatindicates and/or conveys the current time and/or date. In such case, thesmart device can receive the signal from the electronic beacon and canincorporate the current time and/or date indicated by the electronicbeacon into the electronically generated QR code. In various cases, thesmart device can receive input (e.g., via a keyboard, touchscreen,buttons, voice commands, and/or any other suitable human-interfacedevice) from the first entity that identifies the time and/or date ofthe transaction (e.g., the first entity can manually identify the timeand/or date to be encoded into and/or otherwise correlated/mapped to theQR code). In various aspects, the time and/or date at which the smartdevice generates the QR code can be considered as a proxy for the timeand/or date of the transaction for which the QR code is intended to beused. For instance, if the QR code is genuinely electronically generatedfor the particular transaction in question (e.g., if there is noattempted fraud on the part of the first entity), the smart device cangenerate the QR code at the time and/or date of the transaction and/orwhen the transaction is actually transpiring. So, the time and/or datethat is indicated by the smart device at the time that the smart devicegenerates the QR code can match and/or correspond to the time and/ordate of the transaction. Thus, in some cases, when the QR code iselectronically generated (and/or selected) by the smart device, the timeand/or date indicated by the smart device when the QR code is generatedcan be included/encoded within the QR code (and/or can be otherwisecorrelated/mapped to the QR code), and can be considered as a proxy forthe time and/or date of the transaction for which the QR code iselectronically generated.

In various aspects, including/encoding the time and/or date of thetransaction in (and/or otherwise correlating/mapping the time/date ofthe transaction to) the electronically generated QR code can help toenhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of the transaction betweenthe first entity and the second entity, because it allows thepoint-of-sale device and/or the payment processing system to cross-checkthe time and/or date that is indicated by the electronically generatedQR code (e.g., that is, the time and/or date indicated by the smartdevice when the smart device generates the QR code) with the actual timeand/or date of the transaction known by the point-of-sale device. Forinstance, suppose that the transaction between the first entity and thesecond entity occurs at a time/date C. In a situation where no fraud isattempted by the first entity, the smart device of the first entity canelectronically generate the QR code during and/or at the time/date C(e.g., while the transaction is transpiring). In such case, the smartdevice can incorporate, store, encode, encrypt, and/or embed both thepayment information of the first entity and an indication of thetime/date C (e.g., the time and/or date recorded by the smart devicewhen the smart device generates the QR code) into the electronicallygenerated QR code. The smart device can display to the point-of-saledevice the electronically generated QR code, and the point-of-saledevice can scan/read the electronically generated QR code, therebyextracting both the payment information and the indication of thetime/date C from the electronically generated QR code. In various cases,the point-of-sale device can independently track and/or know the timeand/or date of the transaction (e.g., the point-of-sale device canalready know when the transaction is occurring, such as via its owninternal clock and/or via an internet connection). Thus, thepoint-of-sale device can transmit the electronically generated QR codeand the known time and/or date of the transaction to the paymentprocessing system, and the payment processing system can compare thetime and/or date encrypted within (and/or correlated to) theelectronically generated QR code with the known time and/or date of thetransaction (e.g., the known time and/or date recorded by thepoint-of-sale device). Since the time/date C is the known time/date ofthe transaction and since the electronically generated QR code indicatesand/or corresponds to the time/date C, the payment processing system candetermine that the time and/or date information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code matches and/orcorresponds to the known time and/or date information of the transaction(e.g., and/or is within an acceptable time window of the actual time ofthe transaction). Thus, the payment processing system can determine thatthe transaction is valid and/or that no fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. Accordingly, the payment processing system can send asuccessful verification/validation message to the point-of-sale deviceand/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to accept thepayment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to provide the product/serviceto the first entity.

However, consider a situation where fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. In such case, as mentioned above, the smart device of thefirst entity can be different from the smart device that actuallygenerates the electronically generated QR code. For instance, supposethat the first entity uses its smart device to capture an image of anelectronically generated QR code generated by a different smart deviceof some unrelated entity at time/date D (e.g., the unrelated entity canhave been engaging in a transaction at time/date D, not time/date C,when the QR code was generated and/or at the time of screen-capture bythe first entity). Thus, the electronically generated QR code caninclude and/or be correlated to the payment information of the unrelatedentity and can include and/or be correlated to an indication of thetime/date D. In various cases, the first entity can attempt to purchasesome product/service from the second entity by using the paymentinformation of the unrelated entity (e.g., fraud). That is, the smartdevice can display to the point-of-sale device the electronicallygenerated QR code, and the point-of-sale device can scan/read theelectronically generated QR code, thereby extracting both the paymentinformation and the indication of the time/date D from theelectronically generated QR code. As mentioned above, the point-of-saledevice can independently track and/or know the time and/or date of thetransaction. As also mentioned, the point-of-sale device can thentransmit both the electronically generated QR code (e.g., theinformation extracted from the electronically generated QR code) and theknown time and/or date of the transaction to the payment processingsystem. In various cases, the payment processing system can compare thetime and/or date encrypted within the electronically generated QR codewith the known time and/or date of the transaction. Since the time/dateC is the known time and/or date of the transaction and since theelectronically generated QR code indicates the time/date D, the paymentprocessing system can determine that the time and/or date stored withinand/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code does not matchand/or correspond to the known time and/or date of the transaction(e.g., and/or is outside of an acceptable time window of the actual timeof the transaction). Thus, the payment processing system can determinethat the transaction is not valid and/or that fraud is being attemptedby the first entity. Accordingly, the payment processing system cantransmit an unsuccessful verification/validation message to thepoint-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-saledevice to refuse to accept the payment information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code and/or to refuse toprovide the product/service to the first entity.

In some cases, the context-based information encoded with and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code can includeproduct/service information associated with the transaction. That is, anindication of the product and/or service that is being purchased,rented, and/or provided during the transaction can be specified,identified, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded into (and/or can beotherwise correlated/mapped to) the electronically generated QR code. Invarious cases, the product and/or service involved in the transactioncan be recited and/or indicated in any suitable way and/or at anysuitable level of granularity (e.g., type and/or category and/or classof product/service, serial number and/or identification number ofproduct/service, brand of product/service). In various aspects, theproduct and/or service involved in the transaction can be recordedand/or identified by any suitable camera (and/or any other suitableimaging device) of the smart device (e.g., many smart phones and smarttablets possess one or more cameras which can be used to capture imagesof products on a merchant's shelves and/or in a customer's cart, whichimages can be analyzed via computer vision algorithms to identify thedepicted products; alternatively, the cameras can be used to captureimages of and/or to scan universal product codes and/or any othersuitable identification information associated with the products). Insome cases, an electronic beacon at or near the point-of-sale device cantransmit a signal that indicates and/or identifies the products and/orservices involved in the transaction (e.g., the point-of-sale device cantrack which products/services are involved in the transaction byscanning barcodes during checkout). In such case, the smart device canreceive the signal from the electronic beacon and can incorporate anindication of the products and/or services identified by the electronicbeacon into the electronically generated QR code. In various cases, thesmart device can receive input (e.g., via a keyboard, touchscreen,buttons, voice commands, and/or any other suitable human-interfacedevice) from the first entity that identifies the products and/orservices involved in the transaction (e.g., the first entity canmanually identify the products and/or services to be encoded into and/orotherwise correlated/mapped to the QR code). In other embodiments, theproducts and/or services involved in the transaction can beautomatically identified by referencing an electronic shopping listand/or online shopping cart and/or online wish list associated with thefirst entity. Thus, in some cases, when the QR code is electronicallygenerated by the smart device, the products and/or services involved inthe transaction can be included/encoded within and/or otherwisecorrelated/mapped to the QR code.

In various aspects, including/encoding the products and/or servicesinvolved in the transaction into (and/or otherwise correlating/mappingthe products and/or services involved in the transaction to) theelectronically generated QR code can help to enhance the safety,security, and/or privacy of the transaction between the first entity andthe second entity, because it allows the point-of-sale device and/or thepayment processing system to cross-check the products and/or servicesthat are indicated by the electronically generated QR code with theactual products and/or services recorded/tracked by the point-of-saledevice. For instance, suppose that the transaction between the firstentity and the second entity involves product/service E. In a situationwhere no fraud is attempted by the first entity, the smart device canelectronically generate the QR code so that the QR code indicatesproduct/service E. In such case, the smart device can incorporate,store, encode, encrypt, and/or embed both the payment information of thefirst entity and an indication that the transaction is for thepurchase/provision of the product/service E into the electronicallygenerated QR code. The smart device can display to the point-of-saledevice the electronically generated QR code, and the point-of-saledevice can scan/read the electronically generated QR code, therebyextracting both the payment information and the indication ofproduct/service E from the electronically generated QR code. In variouscases, the point-of-sale device can independently track and/or know theproducts and/or services involved in the transaction (e.g., such as byscanning universal product codes and/or the like during checkout). Thus,the point-of-sale device can transmit the electronically generated QRcode and an indication of the known products and/or services involved inthe transaction to the payment processing system, and the paymentprocessing system can compare the indicated products and/or servicesencrypted within the electronically generated QR code with the knownproducts and/or services of the transaction. Since the product/service Eis the known product and/or service of the transaction and since theelectronically generated QR code indicates the product/service E, thepayment processing system can determine that the product and/or serviceinformation stored within and/or correlated to the electronicallygenerated QR code matches and/or corresponds to the known product and/orservice information of the transaction. Thus, the payment processingsystem can determine that the transaction is valid and/or that no fraudis being attempted by the first entity. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system can send a successful verification/validation messageto the point-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct thepoint-of-sale device to accept the payment information stored withinand/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code and/or toprovide the product/service E to the first entity.

However, consider a situation where fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. In such case, as mentioned above, the smart device of thefirst entity can be different from the smart device that actuallygenerates the QR code. For instance, suppose that the first entity usesits smart device to capture an image of an electronically generated QRcode generated by a different smart device of some unrelated entity thatwas purchasing product/service F (e.g., the unrelated entity can havebeen engaging in a transaction for product/service F, notproduct/service E, at the time of generation of the QR code and/or atthe time of screen-capture by the first entity). Thus, theelectronically generated QR code can include and/or be correlated to thepayment information of the unrelated entity and can include and/or becorrelated to an indication of the product/service F. In various cases,the first entity can attempt to purchase the product/service E from thesecond entity by using the payment information of the unrelated entity(e.g., fraud). That is, the smart device can display to thepoint-of-sale device the electronically generated QR code, and thepoint-of-sale device can scan/read the electronically generated QR code,thereby extracting both the payment information and the indication ofthe product/service F from the electronically generated QR code. Asmentioned above, the point-of-sale device can independently track and/orknow the products and/or services involved in the transaction. As alsomentioned, the point-of-sale device can then transmit both theelectronically generated QR code (e.g., the information extracted fromthe electronically generated QR code) and an indication of the knownproducts and/or services involved in the transaction to the paymentprocessing system. In various cases, the payment processing system cancompare the indications of the products and/or services encrypted withinand/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code with the knownproducts and/or services involved in the transaction. Since theproduct/service E is the known product and/or service involved in thetransaction and since the electronically generated QR code indicates theproduct/service F, the payment processing system can determine that theproduct and/or service information stored within and/or correlated tothe electronically generated QR code does not match and/or correspond tothe known products and/or services involved in the transaction. Thus,the payment processing system can determine that the transaction is notvalid and/or that fraud is being attempted by the first entity.Accordingly, the payment processing system can transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to refuse to accept thepayment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to refuse to provide theproduct/service E to the first entity.

In some cases, the context-based information encoded with and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code can includeprice/value information associated with the transaction. That is, theoverall price, cost, and/or value of the transaction can be specified,identified, encrypted, and/or encoded into (and/or can be otherwisecorrelated/mapped to) the electronically generated QR code by the smartdevice. In various cases, the price, cost, and/or value of thetransaction can be recited and/or indicated in any suitable way and/orat any suitable level of granularity (e.g., overall currency amount,itemized currency amounts, currency amount exceeding a first threshold,currency amount not exceeding a second threshold). In various aspects,the price, cost, and/or value of the transaction can be recorded and/oridentified by any suitable camera (and/or any other suitable imagingdevice) of the smart device (e.g., many smart phones and smart tabletspossess one or more cameras which can be used to capture images of pricetags and/or universal product codes associated with products, whichimages can be analyzed via computer vision algorithms to identify thedepicted and/or represented prices). In some cases, an electronic beaconat or near the point-of-sale device can transmit a signal that indicatesand/or identifies the price, cost, and/or value of the transaction(e.g., the point-of-sale device can scan price tags of products/servicesduring checkout). In such case, the smart device can receive the signalfrom the electronic beacon and can incorporate the price, cost, and/orvalue indicated by the electronic beacon into the electronicallygenerated QR code. In various cases, the smart device can receive input(e.g., via a keyboard, touchscreen, buttons, voice commands, and/or anyother suitable human-interface device) from the first entity thatidentifies the price, cost, and/or value of the transaction (e.g., thefirst entity can manually identify the prices, costs, and/or values tobe encoded into and/or correlated to the QR code). Thus, in some cases,when the QR code is electronically generated by the smart device, theprice, cost, and/or value of the transaction can be included/encodedwithin and/or correlated/mapped to the QR code.

In various aspects, including/encoding the price, cost, and/or value ofthe transaction into (and/or otherwise correlation/mapping the price,cost, and/or value of the transaction to) the electronically generatedQR code can help to enhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of thetransaction between the first entity and the second entity, because itallows the point-of-sale device and/or the payment processing system tocross-check the prices, costs, and/or values that are indicated in theelectronically generated QR code with the actual prices, costs, and/orvalues known by the point-of-sale device to be involved in thetransaction. For instance, suppose that the transaction between thefirst entity and the second entity involves a price/value G. In asituation where no fraud is attempted by the first entity, the smartdevice of the first entity can electronically generate the QR code sothat the QR code indicates the price/value G. In such case, the smartdevice can incorporate, store, and/or encode both the paymentinformation of the first entity and an indication that the transactioninvolves the price/value G into the electronically generated QR code.The smart device can display to the point-of-sale device theelectronically generated QR code, and the point-of-sale device canscan/read the electronically generated QR code, thereby extracting boththe payment information and the indication of the price/value G from theelectronically generated QR code. In various cases, the point-of-saledevice can independently track and/or know the prices, costs, and/orvalues involved in the transaction (e.g., by scanning price tags and/orthe like during checkout). Thus, the point-of-sale device can transmitthe electronically generated QR code and the known prices, costs, and/orvalues of the transaction to the payment processing system, and thepayment processing system can compare the indicated prices, costs,and/or values encrypted within and/or correlated to the electronicallygenerated QR code with the known prices, costs, and/or values of thetransaction. Since the price/value G is the known price, cost, and/orvalue of the transaction and since the electronically generated QR codeindicates the price/value G, the payment processing system can determinethat the price, cost, and/or value information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code matches and/orcorresponds to the known price, cost, and/or value information of thetransaction. Thus, the payment processing system can determine that thetransaction is valid and/or that no fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. Accordingly, the payment processing system can send asuccessful verification/validation message to the point-of-sale deviceand/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to accept thepayment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to provide the product/serviceto the first entity.

However, consider a situation where fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. In such case, as mentioned above, the smart device of thefirst entity can be different from the smart device that actuallygenerates the QR code. For instance, suppose that the first entity usesits smart device to capture an image of an electronically generated QRcode generated by a different smart device of some unrelated entityengaged in a transaction of price/value H (e.g., the unrelated entitycan have been engaging in a transaction with price/value H, notprice/value G, at the time of generation of the QR code and/or at thetime of screen-capture by the first entity). Thus, the electronicallygenerated QR code can include and/or be correlated to the paymentinformation of the unrelated entity and can include and/or be correlatedto an indication of the price/value H. In various cases, the firstentity can attempt to purchase a product/service from the second entityby using the payment information of the unrelated entity (e.g., fraud).That is, the smart device can display to the point-of-sale device theelectronically generated QR code, and the point-of-sale device canscan/read the electronically generated QR code, thereby extracting boththe payment information and the indication of the price/value H from theelectronically generated QR code. As mentioned above, the point-of-saledevice can independently track and/or know the prices, costs, and/orvalues involved in the transaction. As also mentioned, the point-of-saledevice can then transmit both the electronically generated QR code(e.g., the information extracted from the electronically generated QRcode) and the known prices, costs, and/or values of the transaction tothe payment processing system. Thus, the payment processing system cancompare the prices, costs, and/or values encrypted within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code with the knownprices, costs, and/or values involved in the transaction. Since theprice/value G is the known price, cost, and/or value of the transactionand since the electronically generated QR code indicates the price/valueH, the payment processing system can determine that the price, cost,and/or value information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code does not match and/or correspond to theknown prices, costs, and/or values involved in the transaction. Thus,the payment processing system can determine that the transaction is notvalid and/or that fraud is being attempted by the first entity.Accordingly, the payment processing system can transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to refuse to accept thepayment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to refuse to provide theproduct/service to the first entity.

In some cases, the context-based information encoded within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code can include merchantidentity information associated with the transaction. That is, theidentity of the merchant (e.g., the second entity) that is facilitatingthe transaction can be specified, identified, encrypted, encoded, and/orembedded into (and/or can be otherwise correlated/mapped to) theelectronically generated QR code by the smart device. In various cases,the merchant identity associated with the transaction can be recitedand/or indicated in any suitable way and/or at any suitable level ofgranularity (e.g., merchant/vendor name, corporate/company name, brandname, an identification number associated with the merchant, a tokenand/or symbol associated with the merchant, and/or any other suitableidentifier associated with the merchant). In various aspects, theidentity of the merchant facilitating the transaction can be recordedand/or identified by any suitable camera (and/or any other suitableimaging device) of the smart device (e.g., many smart phones and smarttablets possess one or more cameras which can be used to capture imagesof logos, storefront signs, and/or name tags, which images can beanalyzed via computer vision algorithms to identify the depictedmerchant/business involved). In other cases, any suitable geo-locationsensors of the smart device can be used to infer the identity of themerchant (e.g., the smart device can know/sense/learn its geographiclocation as mentioned above and can browse the Internet to search for amerchant with a business address at that geographic location). In somecases, an electronic beacon at or near the point-of-sale device cantransmit a signal that indicates and/or identifies the merchantfacilitating the transaction. In such case, the smart device can receivethe signal from the electronic beacon and can incorporate the merchantidentity indicated by the electronic beacon into the electronicallygenerated QR code. In various cases, the smart device can receive input(e.g., via a keyboard, touchscreen, buttons, voice commands, and/or anyother suitable human-interface device) from the first entity thatidentifies the merchant facilitating the transaction (e.g., the firstentity can manually identify the merchant name and/or identificationnumber to be encoded into and/or correlated to the QR code). Thus, insome cases, when the QR code is electronically generated by the smartdevice, the identify to the merchant facilitating the transaction(and/or some identifying piece of information associated with themerchant facilitating the transaction) can be included/encoded withinand/or correlated/mapped to the QR code.

In various aspects, including/encoding the identity of the merchantfacilitating the transaction into (and/or otherwise correlating/mappingthe identity of the merchant facilitating the transaction to) theelectronically generated QR code can help to enhance the safety,security, and/or privacy of the transaction between the first entity andthe second entity, because it allows the point-of-sale device and/or thepayment processing system to cross-check the merchant identity that isindicated by the electronically generated QR code with the actualidentity of the second entity. For instance, suppose that thetransaction occurs between the first entity and a merchant I. In asituation where no fraud is attempted by the first entity, the smartdevice of the first entity can electronically generate the QR code sothat the QR code indicates the identity of the merchant I. In such case,the smart device can incorporate, store, encode, encrypt, and/or embedboth the payment information of the first entity and an indication ofthe identity of the merchant I into the electronically generated QRcode. The smart device can display to the point-of-sale device theelectronically generated QR code, and the point-of-sale device canscan/read the electronically generated QR code, thereby extracting boththe payment information and the indication of the identity of themerchant I from the electronically generated QR code. In various cases,the point-of-sale device can independently know the identity of themerchant facilitating the transaction (e.g., the point-of-sale devicecan already know the identity of the merchant that owns and/or operatesthe point-of-sale device). Thus, the point-of-sale device can transmitthe electronically generated QR code and the known merchant identity tothe payment processing system, and the payment processing system cancompare the indicated merchant identity information encrypted within theelectronically generated QR code with the known identity of the merchantfacilitating the transaction. Since the merchant I is the known merchantfacilitating the transaction and since the electronically generated QRcode indicates the merchant I, the payment processing system candetermine that the merchant identity information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code matches and/orcorresponds to the known merchant identity information of thetransaction. Thus, the payment processing system can determine that thetransaction is valid and/or that no fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. Accordingly, the payment processing system can send asuccessful verification/validation message to the point-of-sale deviceand/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to accept thepayment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to provide the product/serviceto the first entity.

However, consider a situation where fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. In such case, as mentioned above, the smart device of thefirst entity can be different from the smart device that actuallygenerates the QR code. For instance, suppose that the first entity usesits smart device to capture an image of an electronically generated QRcode generated by a different smart device of some unrelated entityengaged in a transaction with a merchant J (e.g., the unrelated entitycan have been engaging in a transaction with the merchant J, not themerchant I, at the time of generation of the QR code and/or at the timeof screen-capture by the first entity). Thus, the electronicallygenerated QR code can include and/or be correlated to the paymentinformation of the unrelated entity and can include and/or be correlatedto an indication of the identity of the merchant J. In various cases,the first entity can attempt to purchase a product/service from themerchant I by using the payment information of the unrelated entity(e.g., fraud). That is, the smart device can display to thepoint-of-sale device the electronically generated QR code, and thepoint-of-sale device can scan/read the electronically generated QR code,thereby extracting both the payment information and the indication ofthe identity of the merchant J from the electronically generated QRcode. As mentioned above, the point-of-sale device can independentlytrack and/or know the identity of the merchant facilitating thetransaction. As also mentioned above, the point-of-sale device can thentransmit both the electronically generated QR code (e.g., theinformation extracted from the electronically generated QR code) and theidentity of the merchant known to be facilitating the transaction to thepayment processing system. In various cases, the payment processingsystem can compare the merchant identity information encrypted withinand/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code with the knownidentity of the merchant facilitating the transaction. Since themerchant I is known to be facilitating the transaction and since theelectronically generated QR code indicates the identity of the merchantJ, the payment processing system can determine that the merchantidentity information stored within the electronically generated QR codedoes not match and/or correspond to the known identity of the merchantfacilitating the transaction. Thus, the payment processing system candetermine that the transaction is not valid and/or that fraud is beingattempted by the first entity. Accordingly, the payment processingsystem can transmit an unsuccessful verification/validation message tothe point-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-saledevice to refuse to accept the payment information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code and/or to refuse toprovide the product/service to the first entity.

In some cases, the context-based information encoded within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code can include useridentity information associated with the transaction. That is, theidentity of the user (e.g., the first entity) that is engaging in thetransaction can be specified, identified, encrypted, encoded, and/orembedded into (and/or can be otherwise correlated/mapped to) theelectronically generated QR code. In various cases, the user identityassociated with the transaction can be recited and/or indicated in anysuitable way and/or at any suitable level of granularity (e.g., fullname, shortened name, residence/address, age, birthdate, social securitynumber, driver's license number, occupation, mother's maiden name, nameof first pet). In various aspects, the identity of the user engaging inthe transaction can be discovered and/or identified by any suitabletechnique of the smart device (e.g., many smart phones and smart tabletscan access social media accounts and/or other mobile applications thatcontain profile data regarding a user, such as name, address, age,birthdate, occupation). In various cases, the smart device can receiveinput (e.g., via a keyboard, touchscreen, buttons, voice commands,and/or any other suitable human-interface device) from the first entitythat identifies and/or corresponds to the user engaging in thetransaction (e.g., the first entity can manually indicate whatidentifying information to be encoded into and/or correlated to the QRcode). Thus, in some cases, when the QR code is electronically generatedby the smart device, the identity of the user engaging in thetransaction (and/or some identifying piece of information associatedwith the user engaging in the transaction) can be included/encodedwithin and/or correlated/mapped to the QR code.

In various aspects, including/encoding the identity of the user engagingin the transaction into (and/or otherwise correlating/mapping theidentity of the user engaging in the transaction to) the electronicallygenerated QR code can help to enhance the safety, security, and/orprivacy of the transaction between the first entity and the secondentity, because it allows the point-of-sale device and/or the paymentprocessing system to verify with the first entity the user identity thatis indicated by the electronically generated QR code. For instance,suppose that the transaction occurs between the first entity and thesecond entity, and suppose that the first entity has a birthdate K. In asituation where no fraud is attempted by the first entity, the smartdevice of the first entity can electronically generate the QR code sothat the QR code indicates the birthdate K. In such case, the smartdevice can incorporate, store, encode, encrypt, and/or embed both thepayment information of the first entity and an indication of thebirthdate K into the electronically generated QR code. The smart devicecan display to the point-of-sale device the electronically generated QRcode, and the point-of-sale device can scan/read the electronicallygenerated QR code, thereby extracting both the payment information andthe indication of the birthdate K from the electronically generated QRcode. In various cases, the point-of-sale device can query the firstentity to provide its birthdate (e.g., to input its birthdate via akeyboard, touchscreen, voice command, and/or any other suitablehuman-interface device). In various cases, the point-of-sale device canthen transmit the electronically generated QR code and the inputtedbirthdate to the payment processing system. Thus, the payment processingsystem can compare the indicated birthdate encrypted within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code with the inputtedbirthdate provided by the first entity. Since the first entity canindicate that it has a birthdate K and since the point-of-sale devicecan determine that the electronically generated QR code indicates thebirthdate K, the payment processing system can determine that the useridentity information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code matches and/or corresponds to theinputted user identity information provided by the first entity. Thus,the payment processing system can determine that the transaction isvalid and/or that no fraud is being attempted by the first entity.Accordingly, the payment processing system can send a successfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to accept the paymentinformation stored within and/or correlated to the electronicallygenerated QR code and/or to provide the product/service to the firstentity.

However, consider a situation where fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity. In such case, as mentioned above, the smart device of thefirst entity can be different from the smart device that actuallygenerates the QR code. For instance, suppose that the first entity usesits smart device to capture an image of an electronically generated QRcode generated by a different smart device of some unrelated entity witha birthdate L. Thus, the electronically generated QR code can includeand/or be correlated to the payment information of the unrelated entityand can include and/or be correlated to an indication of the birthdateL. In various cases, the first entity can attempt to purchase aproduct/service from the second entity by using the payment informationof the unrelated entity (e.g., fraud). That is, the smart device candisplay to the point-of-sale device the electronically generated QRcode, and the point-of-sale device can scan/read the electronicallygenerated QR code, thereby extracting both the payment information andthe indication of the birthdate L from the electronically generated QRcode. As mentioned above, the point-of-sale device can query the firstentity for its birthdate. As also mentioned, the point-of-sale devicecan then transmit both the electronically generated QR code (e.g., theinformation extracted from the electronically generated QR code) and theinputted user identity information to the payment processing system.Thus, the payment processing system can compare the user identityinformation encrypted within the electronically generated QR code withthe inputted user identity information provided by the first entity.Since the first entity can input the birthdate K and since theelectronically generated QR code indicates the birthdate L, the paymentprocessing system can determine that user identity information storedwithin and/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code doesnot match and/or correspond to the inputted user identity informationprovided by the first entity. Thus, the payment processing system candetermine that the transaction is not valid and/or that fraud is beingattempted by the first entity. Accordingly, the payment processingsystem can transmit an unsuccessful verification/validation message tothe point-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-saledevice to refuse to accept the payment information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code and/or to refuse toprovide the product/service to the first entity.

That is, as explained above, various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can enhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of acommercial transaction by encrypting into (and/or correlating with) anelectronically generated QR code context-based information describingthe commercial transaction for which the QR code is generated and/or forwhich the QR code is intended to be used (e.g., geo-location of thetransaction for which the QR code is generated and/or for which the QRcode is intended to be used, time/date and/or time stamp of thetransaction for which the QR code is generated and/or for which the QRcode is intended to be used, products/services involved in thetransaction for which the QR code is generated and/or for which the QRcode is intended to be used, values/prices involved in the transactionfor which the QR code is generated and/or for which the QR code isintended to be used, identification information of the merchantfacilitating the transaction for which the QR code is generated and/orfor which the QR code is intended to be used, and/or identificationinformation of the user engaging in the transaction for which the QRcode is generated and/or for which the QR code is intended to be used).Such context-based information can be verified and/or cross-checked bythe point-of-sale device and/or by the payment processing system inorder to reduce the occurrence of fraud (e.g., if the context-basedinformation characterizing the transaction for which the QR code isgenerated and/or for which the QR code is intended to be used matchesand/or corresponds to known context-based information of the currenttransaction, it can be determined that the QR code was generated forpurposes of the current transaction and is thus valid; on the otherhand, if the context-based information characterizing the transactionfor which the QR code is generated and/or for which the QR code isintended to be used does not match and/or correspond to knowncontext-based information of the current transaction, it can bedetermined that the QR code was not generated for purposes of thecurrent transaction and is thus invalid). Although the above discussioninvolves the payment processing system performing and/or facilitatingsuch verification and/or cross-checking, in various embodiments, thepoint-of-sale device can itself perform and/or facilitate suchverification and/or cross-checking. Conventional computerized paymentprocessing systems and/or techniques do not include and/or leverage suchcontext-based information at all (e.g., a credit card only conveys acredit card account number to a point-of-sale device; the credit carddoes not convey in any way the location, time, products/services,prices/values, and/or merchant/user identities that are involved in thetransaction).

In various instances, embodiments of the subject innovation can enhancetransactional safety, security, and/or privacy by storing, encoding,encrypting, and/or embedding into (and/or by otherwisecorrelating/mapping to) the electronically generated QR coderestriction-based information pertaining to the first entity. In variouscases, restriction-based information can include any suitable types ofconditions (e.g., which can be expressed in terms of Boolean operators)that are to be collectively satisfied (e.g., which collectively evaluateto true rather than false) in order for an electronically generated QRcode to be accepted by the point-of-sale device (and/or, in some cases,in order for the QR code to be electronically generated at all by thesmart device). Such restriction-based information can be evaluated bythe point-of-sale device and/or the payment processing system in orderto verify whether the first entity is authorized to use the paymentinformation encoded within and/or correlated to the electronicallygenerated QR code.

Although the herein disclosure often discusses storing, encoding,encrypting, and/or embedding restriction-based information into QRcodes, this is exemplary and non-limiting. In various cases, rather thandirectly storing, encoding, encrypting, and/or embeddingrestriction-based information into QR codes, various embodiments of thesubject innovation can correlate and/or map via any suitable techniquerestriction-based information to QR codes (e.g., can correlate and/ormap particular restriction-based information to the particular opticalbarcode pattern exhibited by a particular QR code). In any case, anysuitable QR code generation and/or fabrication technique can beimplemented so that a displayed QR code corresponds to and/or otherwiserepresents desired information.

In some cases, such restriction-based information can includegeo-fencing restrictions. That is, geographic areas and/or geographicregions in which the first entity is authorized (and/or is notauthorized, in some cases) to use the electronically generated QR codecan be specified, identified, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded into(and/or can be otherwise correlated/mapped to) the electronicallygenerated QR code. In various cases, these geographic areas and/orgeographic regions can be recited and/or indicated in any suitable wayand/or at any suitable level of granularity (e.g., authorized and/orunauthorized continents, authorized and/or unauthorized countries,authorized and/or unauthorized states/provinces, authorized and/orunauthorized cities, authorized and/or unauthorized towns, authorizedand/or unauthorized addresses, authorized and/or unauthorized latitudes,authorized and/or unauthorized longitudes, and/or authorized and/orunauthorized elevations). In various instances, such geo-fencingrestrictions can be predetermined and/or otherwise set and/orestablished prior to the transaction between the first entity and thesecond entity. In some cases, such geo-fencing restrictions can berequired and/or inputted by a third entity that has authority over thefirst entity (e.g., a credit card company that extends credit to acustomer can require the customer to abide by such geo-fencingrestrictions; and/or a parent that lends their credit card to theirchild can require the child to abide by such geo-fencing restrictions).In various cases, such geo-fencing restrictions can be obtained and/orretrieved from any suitable database and/or data structure.

In various aspects, including/encoding such geo-fencing restrictions in(and/or correlating/mapping such geo-fencing restrictions to) theelectronically generated QR code can help to enhance the safety,security, and/or privacy of the transaction between the first entity andthe second entity, because it allows the point-of-sale device and/or thepayment processing system to determine whether the geo-fencingrestrictions that are indicated by the electronically generated QR codeare satisfied by the actual geographical location of the transactionknown by the point-of-sale device. For instance, consider anelectronically generated QR code that includes and/or is correlated topayment information, and that includes and/or is correlated to anindication of geo-fencing restrictions defining the locations at whichthe payment information is deemed valid and/or defining the locations atwhich the payment information is deemed invalid. Suppose that thetransaction between the first entity and the second entity occurs at ageo-location M. In various cases, the smart device can display to thepoint-of-sale device the electronically generated QR code, and thepoint-of-sale device can scan/read the electronically generated QR code,thereby extracting both the payment information and the indication ofthe geo-fencing restrictions from the electronically generated QR code.As mentioned above, the point-of-sale device can independently trackand/or know its own location and/or the location of the transaction.Thus, the point-of-sale device can transmit both the electronicallygenerated QR code and the known geographic location of the transactionto the payment processing system, and the payment processing system cancompare the geo-fencing restrictions encrypted within and/or correlatedto the electronically generated QR code with the known geographiclocation of the transaction and/or of the point-of-sale device. If thegeographic location of the transaction and/or of the point-of-saledevice (e.g., the geo-location M) satisfies the geo-fencing restrictionsthat are indicated by the electronically generated QR code, the paymentprocessing system can determine that the transaction is valid and/orthat no fraud is being attempted by the first entity (e.g., candetermine that the first entity is not prohibited from using the paymentinformation contained in the QR code at the geo-location M).Accordingly, the payment processing system can send a successfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to accept the paymentinformation stored within and/or correlated to the electronicallygenerated QR code and/or to provide the product/service to the firstentity. However, if the geographic location of the transaction and/or ofthe point-of-sale device (e.g., the geo-location M) does not satisfy thegeo-fencing restrictions that are indicated by the electronicallygenerated QR code, the payment processing system can determine that thetransaction is invalid and/or that fraud is being attempted by the firstentity (e.g., can determine that the first entity is prohibited fromusing the payment information contained in the QR code at thegeo-location M) . Accordingly, the payment processing system cantransmit an unsuccessful verification/validation message to thepoint-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-saledevice to refuse to accept the payment information stored within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code and/or to refuse toprovide the product/service to the first entity.

In some cases, such restriction-based information can include temporaland/or time-fencing restrictions. That is, time windows and/or timeintervals in which the first entity is authorized (and/or is notauthorized, in some cases) to use the electronically generated QR codecan be specified, identified, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded into(and/or can be otherwise correlated/mapped to) the electronicallygenerated QR code. In various cases, these time windows and/or timeintervals can be recited and/or indicated in any suitable way and/or atany suitable level of granularity (e.g., authorized and/or unauthorizeddecades, authorized and/or unauthorized years, authorized and/orunauthorized months, authorized and/or unauthorized days, authorizedand/or unauthorized hours, authorized and/or unauthorized minutes,authorized and/or unauthorized seconds, authorized and/or unauthorizedfractions of seconds, and/or authorized and/or unauthorized seasons). Invarious instances, such temporal and/or time-fencing restrictions can bepredetermined and/or otherwise set and/or established prior to thetransaction between the first entity and the second entity. In somecases, such temporal and/or time-fencing restrictions can be requiredand/or inputted by a third entity that has authority over the firstentity (e.g., a credit card company that extends credit to a customercan require the customer to abide by such temporal and/or time-fencingrestrictions; and/or a parent that lends their credit card to theirchild can require the child to abide by such temporal and/ortime-fencing restrictions). In various cases, such temporal and/or timefencing restrictions can be obtained and/or retrieved from any suitabledatabase and/or data structure.

In various aspects, including/encoding such temporal and/or time-fencingrestrictions in (and/or correlating/mapping such temporal and/ortime-fencing restrictions to) the electronically generated QR code canhelp to enhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of the transactionbetween the first entity and the second entity, because it allows thepoint-of-sale device and/or the payment processing system to determinewhether the temporal and/or time-fencing restrictions that are indicatedby the electronically generated QR code are satisfied by the actual timeand/or date of the transaction known by the point-of-sale device. Forinstance, consider an electronically generated QR code that includesand/or is correlated to payment information, and that includes and/or iscorrelated to an indication of temporal and/or time-fencing restrictionsdefining the times and/or dates at which the payment information isdeemed valid and/or defining the times and/or dates at which the paymentinformation is deemed invalid. Suppose that the transaction between thefirst entity and the second entity occurs at a time/date N. In variouscases, the smart device can display to the point-of-sale device theelectronically generated QR code, and the point-of-sale device canscan/read the electronically generated QR code, thereby extracting boththe payment information and the indication of the temporal and/ortime-fencing restrictions from the electronically generated QR code. Asmentioned above, the point-of-sale device can independently track and/orknow the time and/or date of the transaction. Thus, the point-of-saledevice can transmit both the electronically generated QR code and theknown time and/or date of the transaction to the payment processingsystem, and the payment processing system can compare the temporaland/or time-fencing restrictions encrypted within and/or correlated tothe electronically generated QR code with the known time and/or date ofthe transaction. If the time and/or date of the transaction (e.g., thetime/date N) satisfies the temporal and/or time-fencing restrictionsthat are indicated by the electronically generated QR code, the paymentprocessing system can determine that the transaction is valid and/orthat no fraud is being attempted by the first entity (e.g., candetermine that the first entity is not prohibited from using the paymentinformation contained in the QR code on the time/date N). Accordingly,the payment processing system can send a successfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to accept the paymentinformation stored within and/or correlated to the electronicallygenerated QR code and/or to provide the product/service to the firstentity. However, if the time and/or date of the transaction (e.g., thetime/date /V) does not satisfy the temporal and/or time-fencingrestrictions that are indicated by the electronically generated QR code,the payment processing system can determine that the transaction isinvalid and/or that fraud is being attempted by the first entity (e.g.,can determine that the first entity is prohibited from using the paymentinformation contained in the QR code on the time/date /V) . Accordingly,the payment processing system can transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to refuse to accept thepayment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to refuse to provide theproduct/service to the first entity.

In some cases, such restriction-based information can includeproduct/service restrictions. That is, indications of products and/orservices for which the first entity is authorized (and/or is notauthorized, in some cases) to use the electronically generated QR codecan be specified, identified, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded into(and/or can be otherwise correlated/mapped to) the electronicallygenerated QR code itself. In various cases, these products and/orservices can be recited and/or indicated in any suitable way and/or atany suitable level of granularity (e.g., authorized and/or unauthorizedtypes, classes, and/or categories of products/services; authorizedand/or unauthorized serial numbers and/or identification numbers ofproducts/services; authorized and/or unauthorized brands ofproducts/services). In various instances, such product/servicerestrictions can be predetermined and/or otherwise set and/orestablished prior to the transaction between the first entity and thesecond entity. In some cases, such product/service restrictions can berequired and/or inputted by a third entity that has authority over thefirst entity (e.g., a credit card company that extends credit to acustomer can require the customer to abide by such product/servicerestrictions; and/or a parent that lends their credit card to theirchild can require the child to abide by such product/servicerestrictions). In various cases, such product/service restrictions canbe obtained and/or retrieved from any suitable database and/or datastructure.

In various aspects, including/encoding such product/service restrictionsin (and/or correlating/mapping such product/service restrictions to) theelectronically generated QR code can help to enhance the safety,security, and/or privacy of the transaction between the first entity andthe second entity, because it allows the point-of-sale device and/or thepayment processing system to determine whether the product/servicerestrictions that are indicated by the electronically generated QR codeare satisfied by the actual products and/or services known by thepoint-of-sale device to be involved in the transaction. For instance,consider an electronically generated QR code that includes and/or iscorrelated to payment information, and that includes and/or iscorrelated to an indication of product/service restrictions defining thecategories of products and/or services for which the payment informationis deemed valid and/or defining the categories of products and/orservices for which the payment information is deemed invalid. Supposethat the transaction between the first entity and the second entityinvolves a product/service 0. In various cases, the smart device candisplay to the point-of-sale device the electronically generated QRcode, and the point-of-sale device can scan/read the electronicallygenerated QR code, thereby extracting both the payment information andthe indication of the product/service restrictions from theelectronically generated QR code. As mentioned above, the point-of-saledevice can independently track and/or record the products and/orservices involved in a transaction. Thus, the point-of-sale device cantransmit both the electronically generated QR code and indications ofthe known products and/or service involved in the transaction to thepayment processing system, and the payment processing system can comparethe product/service restrictions encrypted within and/or correlated tothe electronically generated QR code with the known products/services ofthe transaction. If the products/services that are actually involved inthe transaction (e.g., the product/service 0) satisfy theproduct/service restrictions that are indicated by the electronicallygenerated QR code, the payment processing system can determine that thetransaction is valid and/or that no fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity (e.g., can determine that the first entity is notprohibited from using the payment information contained in the QR codeto purchase the product/service 0). Accordingly, the payment processingsystem can send a successful verification/validation message to thepoint-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-saledevice to accept the payment information stored within and/or correlatedto the electronically generated QR code and/or to provide theproduct/service 0 to the first entity. However, if the products/servicesthat are actually involved in the transaction (e.g., the product/service0) do not satisfy the product/service restrictions that are indicated bythe electronically generated QR code, the payment processing system candetermine that the transaction is invalid and/or that fraud is beingattempted by the first entity (e.g., can determine that the first entityis prohibited from using the payment information contained in the QRcode to purchase the product/service 0) . Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system can transmit an unsuccessful verification/validationmessage to the point-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct thepoint-of-sale device to refuse to accept the payment information storedwithin and/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code and/orto refuse to provide the product/service 0 to the first entity.

In some cases, such restriction-based information can includevalue/price restrictions. That is, indications of prices, costs, values,and/or monetary amounts for which the first entity is authorized (and/oris not authorized, in some cases) to use the electronically generated QRcode can be specified, identified, encrypted, encoded, and/or embeddedinto (and/or can be otherwise correlated/mapped to) the electronicallygenerated QR code. In various cases, these prices, costs, values, and/ormonetary amounts can be recited and/or indicated in any suitable wayand/or at any suitable level of granularity (e.g., authorized and/orunauthorized maximum monetary amounts, authorized and/or unauthorizedminimum monetary amounts, authorized and/or unauthorized averagemonetary amounts over a given time period). In various instances, suchvalue/price restrictions can be predetermined and/or otherwise setand/or established prior to the transaction between the first entity andthe second entity. In some cases, such value/price restrictions can berequired and/or inputted by a third entity that has authority over thefirst entity (e.g., a credit card company that extends credit to acustomer can require the customer to abide by such value/pricerestrictions; and/or a parent that lends their credit card to theirchild can require the child to abide by such value/price restrictions).In various cases, such value/price restrictions can be obtained and/orretrieved from any suitable database and/or data structure.

In various aspects, including/encoding such value/price restrictions in(and/or correlating/mapping such value/price restrictions to) theelectronically generated QR code can help to enhance the safety,security, and/or privacy of the transaction between the first entity andthe second entity, because it allows the point-of-sale device and/or thepayment processing system to determine whether the value/pricerestrictions that are indicated by the electronically generated QR codeare satisfied by the actual values, prices, costs, and/or monetaryamounts involved in the transaction known by the point-of-sale device.For instance, consider an electronically generated QR code that includesand/or is correlated to payment information, and that includes and/or iscorrelated to an indication of value/price restrictions defining theprices, values, costs, and/or monetary amounts for which the paymentinformation is deemed valid and/or defining the prices, values, costs,and/or monetary amounts for which the payment information is deemedinvalid. Suppose that the transaction between the first entity and thesecond entity involves a value/price P. In various cases, the smartdevice can display to the point-of-sale device the electronicallygenerated QR code, and the point-of-sale device can scan/read theelectronically generated QR code, thereby extracting both the paymentinformation and the indication of the value/price restrictions from theelectronically generated QR code. As mentioned above, the point-of-saledevice can independently track and/or record the prices, values, costs,and/or monetary amounts involved in a transaction. Thus, thepoint-of-sale device can transmit both the electronically generated QRcode and the known prices, values, costs, and/or monetary amounts of thetransaction to the payment processing system, and the payment processingsystem can compare the value/price restrictions encrypted within and/orcorrelated to the electronically generated QR code with the knownprices, values, costs, and/or monetary amounts of the transaction. Ifthe prices, values, costs, and/or monetary amounts that are actuallyinvolved in the transaction (e.g., the value/price P) satisfy thevalue/price restrictions that are indicated by the electronicallygenerated QR code, the payment processing system can determine that thetransaction is valid and/or that no fraud is being attempted by thefirst entity (e.g., can determine that the first entity is notprohibited from using the payment information contained in the QR codeto spend and/or charge the value/price P). Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system can send a successful verification/validation messageto the point-of-sale device and/or can otherwise instruct thepoint-of-sale device to accept the payment information stored withinand/or correlated to the electronically generated QR code and/or toprovide the product/service to the first entity. However, if the prices,values, costs, and/or monetary amounts that are actually involved in thetransaction (e.g., the value/price P) do not satisfy the value/pricerestrictions that are indicated by the electronically generated QR code,the payment processing system can determine that the transaction isinvalid and/or that fraud is being attempted by the first entity (e.g.,can determine that the first entity is prohibited from using the paymentinformation contained in the QR code to spend and/or charge thevalue/price P) . Accordingly, the payment processing system can transmitan unsuccessful verification/validation message to the point-of-saledevice and/or can otherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to refuseto accept the payment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to refuse to provide theproduct/service to the first entity.

In some cases, such restriction-based information can include merchantidentity restrictions. That is, identification information of merchantswith which the first entity is authorized (and/or is not authorized, insome cases) to use the electronically generated QR code can bespecified, identified, encrypted, encoded, and/or embedded into (and/orcan be otherwise correlated/mapped to) the electronically generated QRcode. In various cases, such merchant identity restrictions can berecited and/or indicated in any suitable way and/or at any suitablelevel of granularity (e.g., authorized and/or unauthorized brands,authorized and/or unauthorized companies, authorized and/or unauthorizedclasses of merchants/vendors, authorized and/or unauthorized merchantidentification numbers/tokens). In various instances, such merchantidentity restrictions can be predetermined and/or otherwise set and/orestablished prior to the transaction between the first entity and thesecond entity. In some cases, such merchant identity restrictions can berequired and/or inputted by a third entity that has authority over thefirst entity (e.g., a credit card company that extends credit to acustomer can require the customer to abide by such merchant identityrestrictions; and/or a parent that lends their credit card to theirchild can require the child to abide by such merchant identityrestrictions). In various cases, such merchant identity restrictions canbe obtained and/or retrieved from any suitable database and/or datastructure.

In various aspects, including/encoding such merchant identityrestrictions in (and/or correlating/mapping such merchant identityrestrictions to) the electronically generated QR code can help toenhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of the transaction betweenthe first entity and the second entity, because it allows thepoint-of-sale device and/or the payment processing system to determinewhether the merchant identity restrictions that are indicated by theelectronically generated QR code are satisfied by the actual identity ofthe merchant facilitating the transaction (e.g., the second entity). Forinstance, consider an electronically generated QR code that includesand/or is correlated to payment information, and that includes and/or iscorrelated to an indication of merchant identity restrictions definingthe merchants for which the payment information is deemed valid and/ordefining the merchants for which the payment information is deemedinvalid. Suppose that the second entity has identity Q. In variouscases, the smart device can display to the point-of-sale device theelectronically generated QR code, and the point-of-sale device canscan/read the electronically generated QR code, thereby extracting boththe payment information and the indication of the merchant identityrestrictions from the electronically generated QR code. As mentionedabove, the point-of-sale device can independently know the identity ofthe merchant facilitating the transaction. Thus, the point-of-saledevice can transmit both the electronically generated QR code and theidentity of the known merchant facilitating the transaction to thepayment processing system, and the payment processing system can comparethe merchant identity restrictions encrypted within and/or correlated tothe electronically generated QR code with the known identity of thesecond entity. If the known identity of the second entity (e.g., theidentity Q) satisfies the merchant identity restrictions that areindicated by the electronically generated QR code, the paymentprocessing system can determine that the transaction is valid and/orthat no fraud is being attempted by the first entity (e.g., candetermine that the first entity is not prohibited from using the paymentinformation contained in the QR code with the merchant having identityQ). Accordingly, the payment processing system can send a successfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to accept the paymentinformation stored within and/or correlated to the electronicallygenerated QR code and/or to provide the product/service to the firstentity. However, if the known identity of the second entity (e.g., theidentity Q) does not satisfy the merchant identity restrictions that areindicated by the electronically generated QR code, the paymentprocessing system can determine that the transaction is invalid and/orthat fraud is being attempted by the first entity (e.g., can determinethat the first entity is prohibited from using the payment informationcontained in the QR code with the merchant having identity Q) .Accordingly, the payment processing system can transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the point-of-sale device and/or canotherwise instruct the point-of-sale device to refuse to accept thepayment information stored within and/or correlated to theelectronically generated QR code and/or to refuse to provide theproduct/service to the first entity.

That is, as explained above, various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can enhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of acommercial transaction by encrypting into (and/or correlating with) anelectronically generated QR code restriction-based information definingsituations and/or conditions in which payment information is deemedvalid and/or invalid (e.g., geo-fencing restrictions, temporal and/ortime-fencing restrictions, product/service restrictions, value/pricerestrictions, and/or merchant identity restrictions). Suchrestriction-based information can be processed and/or evaluated by thepayment processing system in order to reduce the occurrence of fraudand/or in order to reduce an amount and/or time of backend processing.Although the above discussion involves the payment processing systemperforming and/or facilitating such processing and/or evaluation, invarious embodiments, the point-of-sale device can perform and/orfacilitate such processing and/or evaluation. Conventional computerizedpayment processing systems and/or techniques do not include and/orleverage such restriction-based information at all (e.g., a credit cardonly conveys a static credit card account number to a point-of-saledevice; the credit card does not convey in any way the locations, times,products/services, prices/values, and/or merchant identities for whichthe payment information is considered valid and/or invalid; nor does thecredit card withhold and/or hide payment information if suchrestriction-based information is not satisfied).

The above examples illustrate how restriction-based information can beencoded into and/or correlated with the electronically generated QR codefor verification by the payment processing system. In various cases,however, such restriction-based information can be used as triggeringcriteria by the smart device itself. In other words, various embodimentsof the subject innovation can be programmed to refrain fromelectronically generating and/or displaying any QR code at all if anyapplicable restriction-based information is not satisfied by a currenttransaction. In other words, in some embodiments of the subjectinnovation, the smart device can, in some cases, electronically generateand/or display a QR code only if the smart device determines thatapplicable restriction-based information is satisfied by context-basedinformation of the current transaction.

In various aspects, embodiments of the subject innovation can furtherenhance safety, security, and/or privacy of the transaction between thefirst entity and the second entity by incorporating biometric safeguardsthat can be leveraged by the smart device to verify the identity of thefirst entity. Specifically, in some cases, embodiments of the subjectinnovation can include biometric triggering criteria to be satisfied bythe first entity as a condition precedent to the electronic generationand/or display of a QR code. In various instances, such biometrictriggering criteria can include authorized fingerprint signatures,authorized facial signatures, authorized vocal signatures, and/or anyother suitable biometric and/or biological information that can be usedto verify the identity of the first entity (e.g., authorized DNAsignatures, authorized blood signatures, authorized retina signatures).In other words, in some cases, before the smart device canelectronically generate and/or display a QR code on behalf of the firstentity, the smart device can require the first entity to input/provide afingerprint signature/sample (e.g., so as to implement fingerprintrecognition), a facial signature/sample (e.g., so as to implement facialrecognition), a vocal signature/sample (e.g., so as to implement voicerecognition), and/or so on. The smart device can then compare theinputted/provided fingerprint signature, facial signature, and/or vocalsignature to stored fingerprint signatures, facial signatures, and/orvocal signatures that are known to correspond to authorized users of thesmart device and/or to authorized users of QR codes. If the smart devicedetermines that the inputted/provided biometric signatures match and/orcorrespond to the stored biometric signatures (e.g., if the smart devicerecognizes the first entity as being authorized to use QR codes and/orto use the smart device), the smart device can electronically generateand/or display a QR code at the instruction of the first entity.However, if the smart device determines that the inputted/providedbiometric signatures do not match and/or correspond to the storedbiometric signatures (e.g., if the smart device does not recognize thefirst entity as being authorized to use QR codes and/or to use the smartdevice), the smart device can refrain from electronically generatingand/or displaying a QR code despite instructions from the first entity.In this way, biometric safeguards can be leveraged to help ensure thatthe smart device electronically generates and/or displays QR codes onlyfor authorized users. In various cases, the smart device can incorporateany suitable biometric sensors for measuring biometric characteristicsof the first entity (e.g., touchscreen and/or fingerprint scanner forreading fingerprints, camera for capturing facial images, microphone forcapturing vocal soundbites).

That is, as explained above, various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can enhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of acommercial transaction by leveraging biometric triggering criteria. Suchbiometric triggering criteria can be processed and/or evaluated by thesmart device in order to reduce the occurrence of fraud (e.g., the smartdevice can refrain from electronically generating and/or displaying a QRcode containing payment information unless the first entity isbiometrically verified). Conventional computerized payment processingsystems and/or techniques do not include and/or leverage such biometrictriggering criteria at all (e.g., a credit card can be presented and/orused at a point-of-sale device by any person who possesses the creditcard; the credit card does not withhold and/or hide payment informationuntil biometrically verifying that the person is authorized to use thecredit card).

In some embodiments, the smart device can implement password-basedand/or passcode-based triggering criteria. In other words, the smartdevice can, in some cases, require a password and/or passcode to beinputted/provided by the first entity as a condition precedent in orderfor the smart device to electronically generate and/or display a QRcode.

In various aspects, embodiments of the subject innovation can furtherenhance safety, security, and/or privacy of the transaction between thefirst entity and the second entity by incorporating gesture-based and/ormotion-based safeguards that can be required by the smart device priorto electronic generation and/or display of a QR code. Specifically, insome cases, embodiments of the subject innovation can includegesture-based and/or motion-based triggering criteria to be satisfied bythe first entity as a condition precedent to the electronic generationand/or display of a QR code. In various instances, such gesture-basedand/or motion-based triggering criteria can include authorized gestures,motions, tilts, orientations, bumps, and/or any other suitablemotion-based information that can be treated as a command and/orinstruction to electronically generate and/or display a QR code. Inother words, in some cases, before the smart device can electronicallygenerate and/or display a QR code on behalf of the first entity, thesmart device can require the first entity to perform a particulargesture, motion, tilt, orientation, bump, and/or any other suitablephysical manipulation of the smart device. The smart device can thencompare the performed gesture, motion, tilt, orientation, bump, and/orphysical manipulation to stored gestures, motions, tilts, orientations,bumps, and/or physical manipulations that are known to correspond toinstructions and/or commands to electronically generate and/or displayQR codes. If the smart device determines that the performed gestures,motions, tilts, orientations, bumps, and/or physical manipulations matchand/or correspond to the stored gestures, motions, tilts, orientations,bumps, and/or physical manipulations, the smart device canelectronically generate and/or display a QR code. However, if the smartdevice determines that the performed gestures, motions, tilts,orientations, bumps, and/or physical manipulations do not match and/orcorrespond to the stored gestures, motions, tilts, orientations, bumps,and/or physical manipulations, the smart device can refrain fromelectronically generating and/or displaying a QR code. In this way,motion-based and/or gesture-based safeguards can be leveraged to helpensure that the smart device electronically generates and/or displays QRcodes only for authorized users. In various cases, the smart device canincorporate any suitable sensors for measuring the physical positions,displacements, velocities, accelerations, and/or orientations of thesmart device (e.g., accelerometers, gyroscopic sensors). In some cases,the smart device can leverage such sensors to pinpoint a precise momentin time when the QR code is electronically generated and/or displayed tothe point-of-sale device. As mentioned above, this precise moment intime can be encoded into and/or correlated to the QR code, and can beused by the payment processing system to validate and/or invalidate theQR code. Moreover, in various cases, different gestures, motions, tilts,orientations, bumps, and/or physical manipulations that are performed bya user of the smart device can be treated as input so that the user canselect and/or identify desired QR codes to be displayed. Specifically,in various cases, different gestures, motions, tilts, orientations,bumps, and/or physical manipulations can correspond to and/or becorrelated with different types of information (e.g., differentfinancial instrument information, different restriction-basedinformation, different privacy-based information), and different QRcodes can likewise correspond to and/or be correlated with differenttypes of information (e.g., different financial instrument information,different restriction-based information, different privacy-basedinformation). So, when a particular gesture, motion, tilt, orientation,bump, and/or physical manipulation is detected, various embodiments ofthe subject innovation can determine what particular informationcorresponds to the detected gesture, motion, tilt, orientation, bump,and/or physical manipulation, and various embodiments of the innovationcan accordingly generate, select, and/or display the particular QR codethat corresponds to that particular information.

That is, as explained above, various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can enhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of acommercial transaction by leveraging gesture-based triggering criteria.Such gesture-based triggering criteria can be processed and/or evaluatedby the smart device in order to reduce the occurrence of fraud (e.g.,the smart device can refuse to electronically generate and/or display aQR code containing payment information unless the first entity performsa required physical motion with the smart device). Conventionalcomputerized payment processing systems and/or techniques do not includeand/or leverage such gesture-based triggering criteria at all (e.g., acredit card can be presented and/or used at a point-of-sale device byany person who possesses the credit card; the credit card does notwithhold and/or hide payment information until a required physicalmotion, gesture, tilt, and/or orientation is performed by the creditcard).

As explained above, in various embodiments of the subject innovation,the smart device can sense gesture-based motions and/or orientations ofthe smart device and can treat such gesture-based motions and/ororientations as triggering criteria for the electronic generation and/ordisplay of a QR code (e.g., the smart device can refrain from generatingand/or displaying a QR code unless an acceptable physicalmotion/orientation is performed with the smart device). In various otherembodiments, the payment processing system (and/or the point-of-saledevice) can interpret a generated and/or displayed QR code differentlybased on a physical motion and/or orientation that accompanies the QRcode. For example, the smart device can electronically generate anddisplay a QR code, and the interpretation of that QR code by the paymentprocessing system can depend upon a physical motion, tilt, and/ororientation of the smart device (e.g., the QR code can have one meaningwhen paired with a motion/tilt/orientation R, the QR code can have adifferent meaning when paired with a motion/tilt/orientation S, and/orthe QR code can have yet another meaning when paired with amotion/tilt/orientation 7).

As mentioned above, in various embodiments, gesture-based informationcan be used to determine precise time-stamps for electronicallygenerated QR codes. For instance, the smart device can pinpoint aprecise moment (e.g., day, hour, minute, second, and/or fraction of asecond) at which the smart device's screen is presented to thepoint-of-sale device (and/or at which any other predetermined gesture isperformed). In various cases, the smart device can pinpoint such momentby identifying the time at which a particular gesture is performed withthe smart device, where the particular gesture corresponds to a motionand/or physical manipulation of the smart device that is consistent withpresenting the screen of the smart device to the point-of-sale device.In other words, the smart device can determine the time at which thesmart device's screen is physically presented to the point-of-saledevice by capturing motion-based data that is consistent with and/orthat indicates such a physical presentation. Thus, in variousembodiments, the performance of a particular gesture can create aparticular timestamp associated with a QR code (e.g., can mark thetime/moment at which the screen of the smart device is presented to thepoint-of-sale device), and such particular timestamp can be embeddedwithin and/or otherwise correlated to the QR code. In various aspects,the payment processing system can compare this particular timestamp tothe known time of the transaction. If they match and/or are consistent,the transaction can be deemed appropriate. If they do not match and/orare not consistent, it can be determined that the QR code was notgenerated for the purpose of the current transaction.

In various instances, embodiments of the subject innovation can furtherenhance the safety, security, and/or privacy of the transaction betweenthe first entity and the second entity by storing, encoding, encrypting,and/or embedding into (and/or by otherwise correlating/mapping to) theelectronically generated QR code privacy information pertaining to thefirst entity. Specifically, in some cases, embodiments of the subjectinnovation can encrypt into (and/or correlating/map to) anelectronically generated QR code preference information, contactinformation, and/or biographical information of the first entity, andthe electronically generated QR code can be the communication medium bywhich that preference information, contact information, and/orbiographical/demographic information is shared with the point-of-saledevice and/or with the payment processing system. In some cases, thepreference information can include product and/or service preferences ofthe first entity (e.g., food preferences, dietary preferences, moviepreferences, art preferences, entertainment preferences, sportpreferences, price preferences) and/or any other suitable preferences ofthe first entity. In some cases, the contact information can include anysuitable contact of the first entity (e.g., cell phone number, workphone number, home phone number, personal email address, work emailaddress, residential address, work address). In various cases, thebiographical information can include birthdate of the first entity,career/occupation of the first entity, ethnicity of the first entity,political affiliation of the first entity, medical history of the firstentity, allergies and/or medical afflictions of the first entity,browsing and/or purchase history of the first entity, and/or any othersuitable demographic information of the first entity. In variousaspects, such preferences, contact information, and/or biographicalinformation can be encoded and/or encrypted into (and/orcorrelated/mapped to) a QR code via the smart device and can beinterpreted and/or understood by the point-of-sale device and/or thepayment processing system.

Although the herein disclosure often discusses storing, encoding,encrypting, and/or embedding privacy-based information into QR codes,this is exemplary and non-limiting. In various cases, rather thanstoring, encoding, encrypting, and/or embedding privacy-basedinformation directly into QR codes, various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can correlate and/or map privacy-based information to QRcodes (e.g., can correlate and/or map particular privacy-basedinformation to the particular optical barcode pattern exhibited by aparticular QR code). In any case, any suitable QR code generation and/orfabrication technique can be implemented so that a displayed QR codecorresponds to and/or otherwise represents desired information.

In some instances, including/encoding preference information, contactinformation, and/or biographical/demographic information into (and/orotherwise correlating/mapping preference information, contactinformation, and/or biographical information to) an electronicallygenerated QR code can help to improve transactions and/or interactionsbetween the first entity and the second entity. For example, supposethat the first entity wishes to procure a product/service from thesecond entity. In various cases, the smart device can electronicallygenerate and display a QR code in which is encoded (and/or to which iscorrelated) the preferences, contact information, and/or biographicalinformation of the first entity. The point-of-sale device (and/or anyother suitable QR scanner/reader) can scan/read the electronicallygenerated QR code, thereby extracting the preference information, thecontact information, and/or the biographical information of the firstentity. Accordingly, the point-of-sale device can provide to the smartdevice an electronically filtered catalog of products and/or servicesthat are offered by the second entity and that are consistent with thepreference information, contact information, and/or biographicalinformation encoded within the electronically generated QR code. Forinstance, if a customer enters a restaurant, the customer's smart phonecan electronically generate and display a QR code which includesinformation indicating food allergies of the customer. Accordingly, therestaurant can seamlessly be made aware of the customer's food allergiesscanning the QR code and can provide to the customer an electronic menuthat includes only those food items sold by the restaurant that areconsistent with the customer's food allergies (e.g., if the customer isallergic to peanuts, the QR code can indicate such peanut allergy, therestaurant can learn about the peanut allergy by scanning the QR code,and the restaurant can accordingly present to the customer only foodoptions that do not include peanut-based ingredients). As anotherexample, if a customer enters a restaurant, the customer's smart phonecan electronically generate and display a QR code which includesinformation indicating food preferences of the customer (e.g.,preference for meals not exceeding a calorie threshold, preference formeals using particular ingredients, preference for gluten-free meals,preference for organic and/or low-carbon-footprint ingredients,preference for meals under and/or above a price threshold). Accordingly,the restaurant can seamlessly be made aware of the customer's foodpreferences by scanning the QR code and can provide to the customer anelectronic menu that emphasizes and/or includes only those food itemssold by the restaurant that are consistent with the customer's foodpreferences (e.g., highlighting, listing first on the menu, and/orincluding on the menu only meals not exceeding the calorie threshold;highlighting, listing first on the menu, and/or including on the menuonly meals made with the particular ingredients; highlighting, listingfirst on the menu, and/or including on the menu only gluten-free meals;highlighting, listing first on the menu, and/or including on the menuonly meals made with organic and/or low-carbon-footprint ingredients;highlighting, listing first on the menu, and/or including on the menuonly meals above and/or below the price threshold).

In various aspects, the second entity can desire to learn contactinformation and/or biographical information of the first entity (e.g.,age, birthdate, residence/address, occupation, browsing history,purchase history, ethnicity, political affiliation, phone numbers, emailaddress). In some cases, the point-of-sale device can offer rewards(e.g., discounts, coupons, specials) to the smart device in exchange forcontact information and/or biographical information of the first entity.In various instances, the smart device can be programmed to divulgevarying levels and/or amounts of the contact information and/orbiographical information of the first entity (e.g., by encoding suchcontact information and/or biographical information into anelectronically generated QR code) depending upon the extent of thereward offered by the point-of-sale device. For instance, in some cases,the smart device can encode no contact information and/or biographicalinformation in the electronically generated QR code if no reward isoffered by the point-of-sale device. In some cases, if the point-of-saledevice offers a small reward/discount on a current and/or futuretransaction, the smart device can encode a commensurately small subsetof available contact information and/or biographical information of thefirst entity into the electronically generated QR code (e.g., includingonly telephone number and/or email address of the first entity in the QRcode). In some cases, if the point-of-sale device offers a largereward/discount on a current and/or future transaction, the smart devicecan encode a commensurately large subset of available contactinformation and/or biographical information of the first entity into theelectronically generated QR code (e.g., including telephone number,email address, physical address/residence, occupation, and/orbrowsing/purchase history of the first entity). In various aspects, thesmart device can receive input and/or instructions from the first entitywhich dictate how much contact information and/or biographicalinformation (and/or preference information, in some cases) is permittedto be divulged in exchange for given amounts and/or ranges of rewardsand/or discounts. In other words, the smart device can be programmedwith various rules that instruct the smart device how much contactinformation and/or biographical information to encode within a QR codeas a function of a reward/discount offered by the point-of-sale device.In various cases, such rules can be inputted, controlled, and/orestablished by the first entity. In various cases, such rules can beobtained and/or retrieved from any suitable database and/or datastructure.

In various aspects, embodiments of the subject innovation can include aset of electronic personas which can be leveraged by the smart device toimprove transactional safety, security, and/or privacy. In variousinstances, an electronic persona can be a profile that is stored on thesmart device and that contains, specifies, and/or corresponds to varioustypes of information. For example, different electronic personas cancontain, specify, and/or correspond to different payment information,different restriction-based information, different biometric-basedinformation, different gesture-based information, different preferenceinformation, different contact information, and/or differentbiographical/demographic information. In some cases, differentusers/entities can share the smart device (e.g., a family can share asingle smart phone). Thus, each of those different users/entities canhave and/or be associated with a corresponding electronic persona on thesmart device. For instance, consider a family having two parents and achild. In various cases, the smart device can have a first electronicpersona corresponding to a first parent in the family that specifiespayment information of the first parent, restriction-based informationof the first parent, biometric information of the first parent,preference information of the first parent, contact information of thefirst parent, and/or biographical/demographic information of the firstparent. In various cases, the smart device can also have a secondelectronic persona corresponding to a second parent in the family thatspecifies payment information of the second parent, restriction-basedinformation of the second parent, biometric information of the secondparent, preference information of the second parent, contact informationof the second parent, and/or biographical/demographic information of thesecond parent. In various cases, the smart device can further include athird electronic persona corresponding to the child in the family thatspecifies payment information of the child, restriction-basedinformation of the child, biometric information of the child, preferenceinformation of the child, contact information of the child, and/orbiographical/demographic information of the child.

In various aspects, the smart device can identify a current user of thesmart device (e.g., via biometric sensors, via passcode and/or passwordverification), can select and/or identify an electronic personacorresponding to the identified current user, and can electronicallygenerate QR codes according to the information contained within and/orindicated by the selected electronic persona (e.g., different personascan correspond to different payment information, differentrestriction-based information, different biometric information,different preference information, different contact information, and/ordifferent biographical information, which means that the electronicallygenerated QR codes can themselves be different depending upon theselected and/or active persona).

In various instances, multiple personas can correspond to a singleentity/user. For example, a single entity/user can, in some cases,desire to encrypt into and/or correlate to a QR code different paymentinformation, different restriction-based information, and/or differentpreference/contact/biographical/demographic information depending uponthe context of a current transaction. For instance, a single customermay desire to use different credit card accounts (e.g., differentpayment information) depending upon the geographic location of atransaction, the time/date of a transaction, the products/servicesinvolved in the transaction, the price/value of the transaction, and/orthe merchant facilitating the transaction. As another example, a singlecustomer may have different product/service preferences depending uponthe geographic location of the transaction, the time/date of thetransaction, the products/services involved in the transaction, theprice/value of the transaction, and/or the merchant facilitating thetransaction. As still another example, a single customer may desire tomake available different contact information and/or differentbiographical/demographic information depending upon the geographiclocation of the transaction, the time/date of the transaction, theproducts/services involved in the transaction, the price/value of thetransaction, and/or the merchant facilitating the transaction. In thisway, a single entity/user can create multiple electronic personas on thesmart device, and the smart device can automatically select and/oridentify an appropriate electronic persona to use based on the contextof a current transaction (e.g., based on the geographic location of thetransaction, the time/date of the transaction, the products/servicesinvolved in the transaction, the value/price of the transaction, and/orthe merchant facilitating the transaction). The smart device can thenelectronically generate and display QR codes based on the informationassociated with the selected electronic persona (e.g., the smart devicecan generate QR codes based on the payment information indicated by theselected electronic persona, based on the restriction-based informationindicated by the selected electronic persona, based on the biometricinformation indicated by the selected electronic persona, based on thepreference information indicated by the selected electronic persona,based on the contact information indicated by the selected electronicpersona, and/or based on the biographical information indicated by theselected electronic persona).

In various embodiments, a single user can establish and/or set up a setof electronic personas such that each electronic persona corresponds toa different privacy level and/or to different privacy settings. As anon-limiting example, in some cases, a user can establish threedifferent electronic personas: a first electronic persona having a highdegree of privacy, a second electronic persona having a low degree ofprivacy, and a third electronic persona having an intermediate degree ofprivacy. In such cases, the first electronic persona can correspond toand/or specify very little (and/or no) available preference information,contact information, and/or biographical/demographic information of theuser (e.g., the first electronic persona has a high degree of privacyand thus can be associated with a low amount of personal information ofthe user). Thus, when a QR code is generated using the first electronicpersona, very little (and/or no) preference information, contactinformation, and/or biographical/demographic information of the user canbe embedded within the QR code. Accordingly, when the first electronicpersona is used to generate a QR code, the point-of-sale device canlearn only the small amount of available personal information of theuser that is embedded within and/or correlated/mapped to the QR code. Invarious cases, the second electronic persona, which has a low degree ofprivacy, can correspond to and/or specify much (and/or all) availablepreference information, contact information, and/orbiographical/demographic information of the user (e.g., the secondelectronic persona has a low degree of privacy and thus can beassociated with a high amount of personal information of the user).Thus, when a QR code is generated using the second electronic persona,much (and/or all) available preference information, contact information,and/or biographical/demographic information of the user can be embeddedwithin and/or correlated/mapped to the QR code. Accordingly, when thesecond electronic persona is used to generate a QR code, thepoint-of-sale device can learn the large amount of personal informationof the user that is embedded within and/or correlated/mapped to the QRcode. In some cases, the third electronic persona, which has anintermediate degree of privacy, can correspond to and/or specify anintermediate amount of available preference information, contactinformation, and/or biographical/demographic information of the user.Thus, when a QR code is generated using the third electronic persona,the intermediate amount of available preference information, contactinformation, and/or biographical/demographic information of the user canbe embedded within and/or correlated/mapped to the QR code. Accordingly,when the third electronic persona is used to generate a QR code, thepoint-of-sale device can learn the intermediate amount of personalinformation of the user that is embedded within and/or correlated/mappedto the QR code. Although the above example includes only three differentprivacy levels, this is non-limiting and exemplary. In various aspects,a user of the smart device can establish and/or set up (e.g., via anysuitable interface device) any suitable and/or desired number ofelectronic personas having any suitable number and/or degrees of privacylevels. In this way, a user can control what personal information of theuser is shared throughout QR codes during transactions.

Various embodiments of the subject innovation can be employed to usehardware and/or software to solve problems that are highly technical innature (e.g., to facilitate electronic generation and display ofenhanced, transaction-based QR codes for improved privacy and frauddetection), that are not abstract and that cannot be performed as a setof mental acts by a human. Further, some of the processes performed canbe performed by a specialized computer (e.g., QR code generators, QRcode scanners/readers) for carrying out defined tasks related toelectronic generation and display of enhanced, transaction-based QRcodes for improved privacy and fraud detection (e.g., obtaining contextinformation associated with a transaction, encrypting such contextinformation into a quick response code, and displaying the quickresponse code to a scanner/reader; obtaining transactionrestrictions/conditions, encrypting such transactionrestrictions/conditions into a quick response code, and displaying thequick response code to a scanner/reader; obtaining biometric informationof an attempted user, determining whether the biometric informationmatches and/or corresponds to stored biometric information correspondingto authorized users, and displaying a quick response code only if theattempted user is determined to be an authorized user; obtaining gestureinformation of an attempted user, determining whether the gestureinformation matches and/or corresponds to stored gesture informationcorresponding to authorized users, and displaying a quick response codeonly if the attempted user is determined to be an authorized user;obtaining preference, contact, and/or biographical information of auser, encrypting the preference, contact, and/or biographicalinformation into a quick response code, and displaying the quickresponse code to a scanner/reader; maintaining a set of electronicpersonas, identifying an applicable electronic persona based onbiometric information and/or transactional context information,generating a quick response code based on the identified electronicpersona, and displaying the quick response code to a scanner/reader).Such defined tasks are not conventionally performed manually by humans.Moreover, neither the human mind nor a human with pen and paper canelectronically generate and/or electronically display a QR code, nor canthe human mind or a human with pen and paper encrypt, encode, and/orembed specified information into (and/or otherwise correlate/mapspecified information to) a QR code. Instead, various embodiments of thesubject innovation are inherently and inextricably tied to computertechnology and cannot be implemented outside of a computing environment(e.g., only cryptographic techniques implemented by a computing devicecan electronically generate QR codes, only computing devices withcomputer screens can electronically display QR codes, only computingdevices with scanning/optical sensors can scan/read QR codes).

In various instances, embodiments of the subject innovation canintegrate into a practical application the disclosed teachings regardingenhanced, transaction-based QR codes for improved privacy and frauddetection. Indeed, in various embodiments, the disclosed teachings canprovide a computerized system that electronically generates and/orelectronically displays quick response codes depending upon context of acurrent transaction (e.g., geo-location of the transaction, time/date ofthe transaction, products/services involved in the transaction,price/value of the transaction, identity of merchant facilitating thetransaction), depending upon transactional restrictions applicable tothe transaction (e.g., geo-fencing restrictions, temporal restrictions,product/service restrictions, value/price restrictions, merchantidentity restrictions), depending upon biometric triggering criteria(e.g., fingerprints of the user, facial images of the user, vocalsignatures of the user), depending upon motion-based triggering criteria(e.g., detected motions, gestures, tilts, and/or orientations of thesmart device), depending upon preference, contact, and/or biographicalinformation (e.g., food preferences, entertainment preferences,allergies, phone numbers, email address, and so on can be encoded inquick response codes), and/or depending upon selected and/or activeelectronic personas (e.g., different personas can be associated withdifferent QR code generation rules, restrictions, and/or information).As explained herein, such computerized systems produce real-worldresults. Specifically, real-world smart devices (e.g., smartphones/tablets) outfitted with software and/or hardware as describedherein can electronically generate and electronically display real-worldQR codes (e.g., matrix barcodes) on real-world computingscreens/monitors that can be read by real-world barcode scanners inorder to safely, securely, and/or privately transfer specifiedinformation. Such computerized systems improve the safety, security,and/or privacy of commercial transactions. Moreover, in variousembodiments, by enriching electronically generated and/or displayed QRcodes with various types of information (e.g., context-basedinformation, restriction-based information, privacy-based information),an amount and/or time of backend processing of such QR codes can bereduced (e.g., since context-based information, restriction-basedinformation, and/or privacy-based information is directly represented inand/or by the QR code itself, backend databases need not be extensivelysearched and/or queried to obtain such information; this can accordinglysave computing resources and/or reduce computer processing times). Thus,various embodiments of the subject innovation clearly constitute auseful and practical application of computers.

It should be appreciated that the herein figures are exemplary andnon-limiting.

FIG. 1 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 100 that can facilitate enhanced, context-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein. As shown, a QR code system 102 can be implemented (e.g., assoftware, hardware, and/or any suitable combination of software and/orhardware) on a smart device 104. In various aspects, the smart device104 can be any suitable computing device that possesses a display 106(e.g., an electronic display, a computer screen/monitor). For instance,in some cases, the smart device 104 can be a smart phone, a smarttablet, a smart watch, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, and/or anyother suitable computing device). As shown, the smart device 104 canelectronically communicate (e.g., via any suitable wired and/or wirelesselectronic connection) with a point-of-sale device 108 (POS device 108).In various instances, the POS device 108 can be any suitable computingdevice that possesses a scanner 110. In various aspects, the scanner 110can be any suitable optical sensor and/or imaging device (e.g., barcodescanner, camera) that can sense and/or capture optical and/or visualinformation rendered and/or displayed on the display 106. In some cases,the POS device 108 can be an automated cash register and/or kiosk whichcan interact with customers before, during, and/or after commercialtransactions. As shown, in various cases, the POS device 108 cancommunicate via any suitable wired and/or wireless electronic connectionwith a payment processing system 112. In various aspects, the paymentprocessing system 112 can be any suitable set of servers and/ordatabases that can receive information from the POS device 108, that canprocess and/or evaluate such information (e.g., forverification/validation purposes), that can relay such information totransaction settlement systems (not shown in FIG. 1), and/or so on.

Although not explicitly shown in FIG. 1, the smart device 104 cancomprise any suitable human-computer interface apparatus (e.g.,keyboard, buttons, voice control, touchscreen) that allows a user of thesmart device 104 to provide input to the smart device 104 and/or to theQR code system 102. Similarly, although not explicitly shown in FIG. 1,the POS device 108 can comprise any suitable human-computer interfaceapparatus (e.g., keyboard, buttons, voice control, touchscreen) thatallows a user of the POS device 108 to provide input to the POS device108. In various cases, the smart device 104 can be online and/oroffline. Similarly, the POS device 108 can be online and/or offline.

In various embodiments, the QR code generation system102 can comprise aprocessor 114 (e.g., computer processing unit, microprocessor) and acomputer-readable memory 116 that is operably and/or operatively and/orcommunicatively connected/coupled to the processor 114. The memory 116can store computer-executable instructions which, upon execution by theprocessor 114, can cause the processor 114 and/or other components ofthe QR code generation system102 (e.g., payment component 118,transaction context component 120, code generation component 122, and/ordisplay component 124) to perform one or more acts. In variousembodiments, the memory 116 can store computer-executable components(e.g., payment component 118, transaction context component 120, codegeneration component 122, and/or display component 124), and theprocessor 114 can execute the computer-executable components.

In various instances, the QR code system 102 can comprise a paymentcomponent 118. In various aspects, the payment component 118 can store,maintain, receive, and/or retrieve financial instrument informationassociated with a user of the smart device 104. For example, the paymentcomponent 118 can receive and/or store input from a user of the smartdevice 104, which input specifies a credit card number associated withthe user, a debit card number associated with the user, a bank accountnumber associated with the user, a bank routing number associated withthe user, a gift card number associated with the user, and/or any othersuitable financial instrument information and/or identifier which can beused by the user as a form of payment and/or currency for a commercialtransaction. As another example, the payment component 118 can retrievesuch financial instrument information from any suitable database and/ordata structure which the payment component 118 can electronically access(e.g., if a computer memory on the smart device 104 stores suchfinancial instrument information, the payment component 118 can accessthe computer memory to obtain the financial instrument information; if amobile application on the smart device 104 stores such financialinstrument information, the payment component 118 can access the mobileapplication to obtain the financial instrument information; if aninternet website, social media account, and/or other online accountstores such financial instrument information, the payment component 118can access the internet website, social media account, and/or otheronline account to obtain the financial instrument information). Invarious aspects, the payment component 118 can implement any suitablecomputing techniques to receive, retrieve, and/or store such financialinstrument information. As explained herein, the QR code system 102 can,in various cases, encode and/or encrypt such financial instrumentinformation into (and/or can otherwise correlate/map such financialinstrument information to) one or more electronically generated QRcodes, the smart device 104 can visually render (e.g., via the display106) such one or more electronically generated QR codes, the POS device108 can scan such one or more electronically generated QR codes (e.g.,via the scanner 110), and the payment processing system 112 caninterpret, evaluate, and/or process such one or more electronicallygenerated QR codes to learn such financial instrument information. Inthis way, safe, secure, and/or private transmission and/or conveyance ofsuch financial instrument information can be facilitated.

In various aspects, the QR code system 102 can comprise a transactioncontext component 120. In various cases, the transaction contextcomponent 120 can sense, detect, receive, and/or learn context-basedinformation regarding a current transaction in which a user of the smartdevice 104 is engaging. As explained herein, such context-basedinformation can include any suitable data and/or metadata that describesand/or characterizes the current transaction. For example, suchcontext-based information can include geo-location information thatdescribes the current transaction (e.g., indicating the geographiclocation and/or area in which the current transaction is occurring),time/date information that describes the current transaction (e.g.,indicating the date and/or time of day at which the current transactionis occurring), product/service information that describes the currenttransaction (e.g., indicating the products and/or services that arebeing purchased, rented, and/or provided in the current transaction),price/value information that describes the current transaction (e.g.,indicating the overall and/or itemized costs and/or prices that arebeing charged and/or paid in the current transaction), merchantidentifier information that describes the current transaction (e.g.,indicating identifying information that corresponds to the merchant thatis facilitating the current transaction), and/or user identifierinformation that describes the current transaction (e.g., indicatingidentifying information that corresponds to the user of the smart device104 that is engaging in the current transaction). As explained herein,the transaction context component 120 can, in some cases, detect and/orsense such context-based information by leveraging hardware and/orsoftware included in the smart device 104 (e.g., if the smart device 104includes GPS and/or geo-location sensors, the transaction contextcomponent 120 can learn the geo-location of the smart device 104 andthus geo-location of the current transaction; if the smart device 104includes a clock and/or electronic calendar, the transaction contextcomponent 120 can learn the current time/date indicated by the smartdevice 104 and thus time/date of the current transaction; if the smartdevice 104 includes cameras and/or optical sensors, the transactioncontext component 120 can learn the product/services and/orprices/values involved in the current transaction such as by scanningprice tags and/or UPC codes). As also explained herein, in some cases,the transaction context component 120 can, in some cases, learn suchcontext-based information by receiving an electronic signal from abeacon and/or transmitter that is at or near the POS device 108 (e.g.,if the POS device 108 includes a beacon and/or transmitter, the POSdevice 108 can identify for the transaction context component 120 thelocation of the current transaction, the time/date of the currenttransaction, which products/services are involved in the currenttransaction, what prices/values are involved in the current transaction,and/or which merchant is facilitating the current transaction). In someinstances, the transaction context component 120 can simply receive suchcontext-based information from input provided by a user of the smartdevice 104. As explained herein, the QR code system 102 can, in variouscases, encode, encrypt, and/or embed such context-based information into(and/or can otherwise correlate/map such context-based information to)one or more electronically generated QR codes, the smart device 104 canvisually render (e.g., via the display 106) such one or moreelectronically generated QR codes, the POS device 108 can scan (e.g.,via the scanner 110) such one or more electronically generated QR codesto learn such context-based information, and the payment processingsystem 112 can cross-check such context-based information in order tohelp detect and/or prevent fraudulent transactions. In this way, safe,secure, and/or private transmission and/or conveyance of financialinstrument information can be facilitated.

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 can comprise a codegeneration component 122. In various aspects, the code generationcomponent 122 can electronically generate, via any suitablecryptographic and/or computational techniques, one or more QR codes(e.g., optical barcodes of any suitable dimensionality, any suitableshape, and/or any suitable colors and/or combinations of colors) basedon the financial instrument information received by the paymentcomponent 118 and/or based on the context-based information received bythe transaction context component 120. In other words, the codegeneration component 122 can create a QR code which cryptographicallyrepresents and/or indicates and/or is correlated to the financialinstrument information of the payment component 118 and/or thecontext-based information of the transaction context component 120. Invarious cases, the code generation component 122 can implement anysuitable encoding mode for the electronic and/or computational creationof QR codes (e.g., numeric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, kanji).

In various instances, the QR code system 102 can comprise a displaycomponent 124. In various aspects, the display component 124 cangenerate a display command and/or a display instruction which can betransmitted to the smart device 104 and which can command and/orinstruct the display 106 of the smart device 104 to visually renderand/or illustrate the one or more QR codes that are electronicallygenerated and/or created by the code generation component 122.

Overall, the QR code system 102 can facilitate the safe, secure, and/orprivate transmission and/or conveyance of financial instrumentinformation from the smart device 104 to the POS device 108 and/or tothe payment processing system 112. Specifically, in various cases, thepayment component 118 can receive, obtain, and/or maintain financialinstrument information of a user of the smart device 104, wherecommunication of the financial instrument information from the smartdevice 104 to the payment processing system 112 can facilitate thetransfer of payment from the user of the smart device 104 to anowner/operator of the POS device 108 for a current transaction. Invarious cases, the transaction context component 120 can receive,detect, and/or sense context-based information regarding the currenttransaction (e.g., geo-location, time/date, products/services,prices/values, merchant/user identifiers). In various instances, thecode generation component 122 can electronically generate a QR code intowhich the financial instrument information and the context-basedinformation are encoded, encrypted, and/or embedded (and/or to whichsuch context-based information is correlated/mapped). In variousaspects, the display component 124 can send a displaycommand/instruction to the smart device 104, which can cause the display106 of the smart device 104 to visually render the QR codeelectronically generated by the code generation component 122. Invarious cases, the POS device 108 can read, via the scanner 110, the QRcode visually rendered by the display 106 and can extract from the QRcode the financial instrument information and the context-basedinformation, and the POS device 108 can transmit such information to thepayment processing system 112. In various instances, the paymentprocessing system 112 can cross-check the context-based informationextracted from the QR code with known characteristics of the currenttransaction, and can accordingly accept or refuse to accept thefinancial instrument information contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code. In this way, safety, security, and/or privacy of commercialtransactions can be improved (e.g., conventional computerized paymentprocessing systems only convey financial instrument information; they donot convey and/or cross-check context-based information).

FIG. 2 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example, non-limitingcomputer-implemented method 200 that can facilitate enhanced,context-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein. In various cases, the computer-implementedmethod 200 can be facilitated by the system 100.

In various embodiments, act 202 can include obtaining, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 118), context informationassociated with a transaction between a user and a merchant. Forinstance, such context information can include geo-location information,time/date information, product/service, value/price information,merchant identity information, and/or user identity information.

In various aspects, act 204 can include generating, by the device (e.g.,120), a quick response (QR) code based on the context information andbased on financial instrument information of the user. For example, thiscan include encoding into the QR code the credit card number of theuser, the location of the transaction, the time/date of the transaction,the products/services involved in the transaction, the value/price ofthe transaction, identifying information of the merchant facilitatingthe transaction, and/or identifying information of the user engaging inthe transaction.

In various instances, act 206 can include displaying, by the device(e.g., 124 and/or 104), the QR code on an electronic display (e.g.,106). For example, the user's device (e.g., 104) can display the QRcode, and a merchant point-of-sale device (e.g., 108) can scan the QRcode and can decipher the context information and the financialinstrument information encoded within the QR code. In various cases, themerchant point-of-sale device can independently track and/or recorddetails characterizing the transaction (e.g., the point-of-sale devicecan independently track the location of the transaction, the time/dateof the transaction, the products/services being sold/provided in thetransaction, the overall and/or itemized prices/costs involved in thetransaction, and/or the identity of the merchant facilitating thetransaction). Thus, the point-of-sale device can, in some cases, verifywhether the context information encoded in the QR code is accurate(e.g., can determined whether the context information in the QR codematches and/or corresponds to the context information independentlyknown/tracked/recorded by the point-of-sale device). If so, thepoint-of-sale device can accept the financial instrument information. Ifnot, the point-of-sale device can refuse to accept the financialinstrument information.

FIG. 3 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 300 including financial instrument information thatcan facilitate enhanced, context-based QR code generation in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, the system 300can, in some cases, comprise the same components as the system 100, andcan further comprise financial instrument information 302.

In various embodiments, the financial instrument information 302 can beany suitable information pertaining to financial instruments and/orfinancial accounts associated with a user of the smart device 104. Inother words, the financial instrument information 302 can be anysuitable information and/or token the communication of which from acustomer to a vendor can facilitate the transfer of payment from thecustomer to the vendor. Non-limiting examples of the financialinstrument information 302 can include credit card numbers, debit cardnumbers, bank account numbers, bank routing numbers, gift card numbers,and/or coupon numbers. As mentioned above, the payment component 118can, in some cases, receive the financial instrument information 302 asinput from the user of the smart device 104. In other cases, the paymentcomponent 118 can automatically detect and/or retrieve the financialinstrument information 302 from any suitable database and/or datastructure which can be electronically accessed by the payment component118 (e.g., a memory on the smart device 104; a mobile application on thesmart device 104; a website, application, and/or social mediaprofile/account accessible via the internet).

FIG. 4 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 400 including geo-location and time/date informationthat can facilitate enhanced, context-based QR code generation inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, thesystem 400 can, in some aspects, comprise the same components as thesystem 300, and can further comprise geo-location information 402 and/ortime/date information 404.

In various instances, the geo-location information 402 can be anysuitable indication of the geographic location of the smart device 104during a current transaction (e.g., the geographic location of the smartdevice 104 when the code generation component 122 generates a QR code).In various cases, the geo-location information 402 can be indicated atany suitable level of granularity (e.g., continent in which the smartdevice 104 is located at a current time and/or when the code generationcomponent 122 generates a particular QR code, country in which the smartdevice 104 is located at a current time and/or when the code generationcomponent 122 generates a particular QR code, state/province in whichthe smart device 104 is located at a current time and/or when the codegeneration component 122 generates a particular QR code, city/town inwhich the smart device 104 is located at a current time and/or when thecode generation component 122 generates a particular QR code, address atwhich the smart device 104 is located at a current time and/or when thecode generation component 122 generates a particular QR code,latitude/longitude/elevation at which the smart device 104 is located ata current time and/or when the code generation component 122 generates aparticular QR code, and/or any other suitable demarcated geographicalregion/area at which the smart device 104 is located at a current timeand/or when the code generation component 122 generates a particular QRcode). In various aspects, any suitable geo-fencing information, asdescribed in more detail below, can be represented by the geo-locationinformation 402. In various instances, the transaction context component120 can detect and/or sense the geo-location information 402 byleveraging a GPS 406 of the smart device 104. In various cases, the GPS406 can be any suitable geo-location sensor and/or geo-positioningsensor that can be used to determine, infer, and/or track the physicallocation of the smart device 104. In some cases, the geo-locationinformation 402 can be manually inputted by the user of the smart device104.

In various instances, the time/date information 404 can be any suitableindication of the time and/or date of a current transaction (e.g., thetime and/or date at which the code generation component 122 generates aQR code). In various cases, the time/date information 404 can beindicated at any suitable level of granularity (e.g., decade and/or yearduring which the code generation component 122 generates a particular QRcode, month during which the code generation component 122 generates aparticular QR code, day during which the code generation component 122generates a particular QR code, hour during which the code generationcomponent 122 generates a particular QR code, minute during which thecode generation component 122 generates a particular QR code, and/orsecond during which the code generation component 122 generates aparticular QR code). In various instances, the transaction contextcomponent 120 can detect and/or sense the time/date information 404 byleveraging a clock 408 of the smart device 104. In various cases, theclock 408 can be any suitable time sensor, date sensor, and/orelectronic calendar that can be used to determine, infer, and/or tracktime and/or date. In some cases, the time/date information 404 can bemanually inputted by the user of the smart device 104.

As mentioned above, in some cases, the POS device 108 can independentlytrack the geographic location of a transaction and/or the time/date of atransaction. Accordingly, in various embodiments, the POS device 108 cancomprise a beacon 410. In various cases, the beacon 410 can be anysuitable transmitter that can emit an electronic signal which can bereceived by the smart device 104 and/or the QR code system 102. Invarious aspects, the electronic signal of the beacon 410 can containand/or indicate the geo-location information 402 and/or the time/dateinformation 404. In various cases, the transaction context component 120can thus be informed of the geo-location information 402 and/or thetime/date information 404 by the beacon 410. Although FIG. 4 depicts thebeacon 410 as being a sub-component of the POS device 108. This isillustrative and non-limiting only. In various cases, the beacon 410 canbe remote and/or separate from the POS device 108.

FIG. 5 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 500 including produce/service and price/valueinformation that can facilitate enhanced, context-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.As shown, the system 500 can, in some cases, comprise the samecomponents as the system 400, and can further comprise product/serviceinformation 502 and/or price/value information 504.

In various instances, the product/service information 502 can be anysuitable indication of the identities of the products and/or servicesthat are being purchased, rented, procured, and/or provided during thecurrent transaction (e.g., the identities of the products and/orservices being procured by the user of the smart device 104 and/or beingprovided by the owner/operator of the POS device 108 when the codegeneration component 122 generates a QR code). In various cases, theproduct/service information 502 can be indicated at any suitable levelof granularity (e.g., categories, types, and/or classes ofproducts/services that are being procured/provided when the codegeneration component 122 generates a particular QR code; serial numbersand/or universal product codes of products/services that are beingprocured/provided when the code generation component 122 generates aparticular QR code; and/or brands and/or names of products/services thatare being procured/provided when the code generation component 122generates a particular QR code). In various instances, the transactioncontext component 120 can detect, sense, and/or infer theproduct/service information 502 by leveraging a camera 506 of the smartdevice 104. In various cases, the camera 506 can be any suitable opticalsensor and/or imaging device that can capture images and/or opticalinformation. In various instances, the camera 506 can be used to captureimages of products/services, and computer vision algorithms can analyzesuch captured images to infer the identities of the products/servicesbeing procured/provided. In various aspects, the camera 506 can be usedto capture images of universal product codes and/or tags associated withproducts/services, and the identities of the relevant products/servicescan be inferred/determined based on the information stored within theuniversal product codes and/or tags. In some cases, the product/serviceinformation 502 can be manually inputted by the user of the smart device104. In some cases, the product/service information 502 can be inferredby the transaction context component 120 based on an online shoppingcart associated with the user of the smart device 104.

In various instances, the price/value information 504 can be anysuitable indication of the overall and/or itemized prices, costs, and/ormonetary amounts that are being charged and/or paid in the currenttransaction (e.g., the amount of money that the owner/operator of thePOS device 108 is charging to the user of the smart device 104 for theprovision of products/services). In various cases, the price/valueinformation 504 can be indicated at any suitable level of granularity(e.g., overall/total monetary amount to be charged/paid when the codegeneration component 122 generates a particular QR code, itemizedmonetary amounts to be charged/paid when the code generation component122 generates a particular QR code, a price threshold not exceeded bythe overall/total monetary amount to be charged/paid when the codegeneration component 122 generates a particular QR code, a pricethreshold exceeded by the overall/total monetary amount to becharged/paid when the code generation component 122 generates aparticular QR code, price thresholds not exceeded by the itemizedmonetary amounts to be charged/paid when the code generation component122 generates a particular QR code, and/or price thresholds exceeded bythe itemized monetary amounts to be charged/paid when the codegeneration component 122 generates a particular QR code). In variousinstances, the transaction context component 120 can detect, sense,and/or infer the price/value information 504 by leveraging the camera506 of the smart device 104. The camera 506 can, in various cases, beused to capture images of price tags associated with theproducts/services that are being procured/provided during the currenttransaction, and computer vision algorithms can be used to analyze suchcaptured images to infer the total and/or itemized prices of theproducts/services being procured/provided. In various other cases, thecamera 506 can be used to capture images of universal product codesand/or tags associated with products/services, and the total and/oritemized prices of the relevant products/services can beinferred/determined based on the information stored within the universalproduct codes and/or tags. In some cases, the price/value information504 can be manually inputted by the user of the smart device 104. Insome cases, the price/value information 504 can be inferred by thetransaction context component 120 based on an online shopping cartassociated with the user of the smart device 104.

As mentioned above, in some cases, the POS device 108 can independentlytrack the products/services and/or prices/values involved in atransaction (e.g., the POS device 108 can learn the products/servicesand/or prices/values involved in the transaction by scanning universalproduct codes during checkout). Accordingly, in various embodiments, thePOS device 108 can, via the beacon 410, emit an electronic signal thatcan contain and/or indicate the product/service information 502 and/orthe price/value information 504. In various cases, the transactioncontext component 120 can thus be informed of the product/serviceinformation 502 and/or the price/value information 504 by the beacon410.

FIG. 6 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 600 including merchant identity and/or user identifyinformation that can facilitate enhanced, context-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.As shown, the system 600 can, in some cases, comprise the samecomponents as the system 500, and can further comprise merchant identityinformation 602 and/or user identity information 604.

In various instances, the merchant identity information 602 can be anysuitable indication of the identity of the merchant that is facilitatingthe current transaction (e.g., the identity of the owner/operator of thePOS device 108). In various cases, the merchant identity information 602can be indicated at any suitable level of granularity (e.g., category,type, and/or class of merchant that is facilitating the transaction whenthe code generation component 122 generates a particular QR code; anidentification number, symbol, and/or token corresponding to themerchant that is facilitating the transaction when the code generationcomponent 122 generates a particular QR code; and/or tradename of themerchant that is facilitating the transaction when the code generationcomponent 122 generates a particular QR code). In various instances, thetransaction context component 120 can detect, sense, and/or infer themerchant identity information 602 by leveraging the camera 506 of thesmart device 104. In various cases, the camera 506 can be used tocapture images of logos, billboards, uniforms, name tags, and/oradvertisements corresponding to the merchant that is facilitating thecurrent transaction, and computer vision algorithms can analyze suchcaptured images to infer the identity of the merchant. In various otheraspects, the beacon 410 can emit an electronic signal which indicatesthe merchant identity information 602 (e.g., which includes anidentifier and/or token corresponding to the merchant). In such case,the transaction context component 120 can learn the merchant identityinformation 602 from the beacon 410. In some cases, the merchantidentity information 602 can be manually inputted by the user of thesmart device 104.

In various instances, the user identity information 604 can be anysuitable indication of the identity of the user of the smart device 104.In various cases, the user identity information 604 can be indicated atany suitable level of granularity (e.g., full and/or partial name of theuser of the smart device 104, birthdate of the user of the smart device104, occupation of the user of the smart device 104, social securitynumber of the user of the smart device 104, address/residence of theuser of the smart device 104, passcode and/or password established bythe user of the smart device 104, security questions and/or answersestablished by the user of the smart device 104, and/or any otheridentifier that can be associated with the user of the smart device104). In various instances, the transaction context component 120 candetect, sense, and/or infer the user identity information 604 byleveraging a user profile 606 of the smart device 104. The user profile606 can, in various cases, be any suitable electronic profile and/orelectronic account that is associated with the user of the smart device104 and/or which contains information associated with the user of thesmart device 104 (e.g., a social media account, a mobile applicationaccount, an online account). In various aspects, the transaction contextcomponent 120 can electronically access the user profile 606 in order toextract and/or retrieve the user identity information 604. In somecases, the user identity information 604 can be manually inputted by theuser of the smart device 104.

FIG. 7 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 700 including a QR code and a display command thatcan facilitate enhanced, context-based QR code generation in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, the system 700can, in some cases, comprise the same components as the system 600, andcan further comprise a QR code 702 and/or a display command 704.

In various aspects, the code generation component 122 can electronicallygenerate, via any suitable cryptographic and/or computational technique,the QR code 702 based on the information possessed by the paymentcomponent 118 and/or the transaction context component 120. In otherwords, the code generation component 122 can create the QR code 702 suchthat the QR code 702 represents, indicates, symbolizes, and/or iscorrelated to the financial instrument information 302, the geo-locationinformation 402, the time/date information 404, the product/serviceinformation 502, the price/value information 504, the merchant identityinformation 602, and/or the user identity information 604.

In various aspects, the display component 124 can create the displaycommand 704, which can be any suitable electronic command and/orinstruction which can cause the smart device 104 to visually renderand/or illustrate the QR code 702 on the display 106.

In various aspects, the POS device 108 can scan, via the scanner 110,the QR code 702 that is visually rendered on the display 106, and thePOS device 108 can accordingly interpret and/or process the QR code 702so as to extract the information contained within and/orrepresented/symbolized by the QR code 702. That is, in various cases,the POS device 108 can scan the QR code 702 that is displayed on thedisplay 106, and thereby can learn the financial instrument information302 and the context-based information (e.g., the geo-locationinformation 402, the time/date information 404, the product/serviceinformation 502, the price/value information 504, the merchant identityinformation 602, and/or the user identity information 604) that areencoded within the QR code 702. In various aspects, the POS device 108can then transmit such information to the payment processing system 112for processing/verification.

In various aspects, encoding and/or embedding context-based information(e.g., 402, 404, 502, 504, 602, and/or 604) into (and/or otherwisecorrelating/mapping such information to) the QR code 702 can improveprivacy and/or fraud detection. Specifically, the POS device 108 can, insome cases, independently track the context of a current transaction.Moreover, the POS device 108 can read, via the scanner 110,context-based information that is encoded and/or embedded within (and/orcorrelated/mapped to) the QR code 702. In various instances, the POSdevice 108 can transmit the QR code 702 and the known context of thecurrent transaction to the payment processing system 112, and thepayment processing system 112 can compare the known context of thecurrent transaction with the context-based information encoded in and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 to determine whether the user of the smartdevice 104 is attempting fraud.

For example, suppose that a current transaction is taking place in thecity of Los Angeles (e.g., the POS device 108 is located within LosAngeles, and the user of the smart device 104 physically approaches thePOS device 108 to purchase/procure a product/service). In various cases,the smart device 104 can visually render, via the display 106, the QRcode 702, and the POS device 108 can scan, via the scanner 110, the QRcode 702. The POS device 108 can then transmit the QR code 702 and anindication that the transaction is known to be occurring in Los Angelesto the payment processing system 112. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system 112 can process and/or analyze the QR code 702.Suppose that, based on such processing and/or analysis, the paymentprocessing system 112 determines that the QR code 702 indicates thefinancial instrument information 302 and also indicates that it (the QRcode 702) was generated in the city of Los Angeles. In such case, thepayment processing system 112 can determine that the geo-locationinformation stored within and/or correlated to the QR code 702 matchesand/or corresponds to the known geo-location information of the currenttransaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can concludethat the user of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud (e.g.,and/or can fail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104 isattempting fraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmit asuccessful verification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/orcan otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based on theprocessing and/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determinesthat the QR code 702 indicates the financial instrument information 302and also indicates that it (the QR code 702) was generated in the cityof Cleveland. In such case, the payment processing system 112 candetermine that the geo-location information stored within and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 does not match and/or correspond to theknown geo-location information of the current transaction. Accordingly,the payment processing system 112 can conclude that the user of thesmart device 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of the smart device104 can have impermissibly captured an image of the QR code 702 from itstrue owner, who can have been engaging in a transaction in Cleveland andnot in Los Angeles, in an attempt to the steal the financial instrumentinformation of the true owner). The payment processing system 112 canthen transmit an unsuccessful verification/validation message to the POSdevice 108 and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse toaccept the financial instrument information 302 that is contained withinand/or correlated to the QR code 702.

In this way, the geo-location information 402 inputted into and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 can be considered as a location stamp thatmarks the location at which the QR code 702 was generated by the smartdevice 104. If the location stamp of a given QR code does not matchand/or correspond to the known location of a current transaction, itcan, in some cases, be determined/inferred that the QR code was notgenerated for the purpose of the current transaction. Accordingly,financial instrument information in the QR code can be refused.

As another example, suppose that a current transaction is taking placeon July 15 of 2020. In various cases, the smart device 104 can visuallyrender, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and the POS device 108 canscan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POS device 108 can thentransmit the QR code 702 and an indication that the transaction is knownto be occurring on July 15 of 2020 to the payment processing system 112.Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can process and/oranalyze the QR code 702. Suppose that, based on such processing and/oranalysis, the payment processing system 112 determines that the QR code702 indicates the financial instrument information 302 and alsoindicates that it (the QR code 702) was generated on July 15 of 2020. Insuch case, the payment processing system 112 can determine that thetime/date information stored within and/or correlated to the QR code 702matches and/or corresponds to the known time/date information of thecurrent transaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 canconclude that the user of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud(e.g., and/or can fail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104is attempting fraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmita successful verification/validation message to the POS device 108and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based on theprocessing and/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determinesthat the QR code 702 indicates the financial instrument information 302and also indicates that it (the QR code 702) was generated on February21 of 2020. In such case, the payment processing system 112 candetermine that the time/date information stored within and/or correlatedto the QR code 702 does not match and/or correspond to the knowntime/date information of the current transaction. Accordingly, thepayment processing system 112 can conclude that the user of the smartdevice 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of the smart device 104can have impermissibly captured an image of the QR code 702 from itstrue owner, who can have been engaging in a transaction on February 12of 2020 and not on July 15 of 2020, in an attempt to the steal thefinancial instrument information of the true owner). The paymentprocessing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

In this way, the time/date information 404 inputted into and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 can be considered as a time stamp thatmarks the time/date at which the QR code 702 was generated by the smartdevice 104. If the time stamp of a given QR code does not match and/orcorrespond to the known time/date of a current transaction, it can, insome cases, be determined/inferred that the QR code was not generatedfor the purpose of the current transaction. Accordingly, financialinstrument information in the QR code can be refused.

As yet another example, suppose that a current transaction is for theprocurement/provision of a lawnmower. In various cases, the smart device104 can visually render, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and thePOS device 108 can scan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POSdevice 108 can then transmit the QR code 702 and an indication that thetransaction is known to be for the procurement/provision of a lawnmowerto the payment processing system 112. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system 112 can process and/or analyze the QR code 702.Suppose that, based on such processing and/or analysis, the paymentprocessing system 112 determines that the QR code 702 indicates thefinancial instrument information 302 and also indicates that it (the QRcode 702) is for the purpose of procuring a lawnmower. In such case, thepayment processing system 112 can determine that the product/serviceinformation stored within and/or correlated to the QR code 702 matchesand/or corresponds to the known product/service information of thecurrent transaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 canconclude that the user of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud(e.g., and/or can fail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104is attempting fraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmita successful verification/validation message to the POS device 108and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based on theprocessing and/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determinesthat the QR code 702 indicates the financial instrument information 302and also indicates that it (the QR code 702) was generated for thepurpose of procuring a haircut. In such case, the payment processingsystem 112 can determine that the product/service information storedwithin and/or correlated to the QR code 702 does not match and/orcorrespond to the known product/service information of the currenttransaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can concludethat the user of the smart device 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., theuser of the smart device 104 can have impermissibly captured an image ofthe QR code 702 from its true owner, who can have been engaging in atransaction for a haircut and not for a lawnmower, in an attempt to thesteal the financial instrument information of the true owner). Thepayment processing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

In this way, the product/service information 502 inputted into and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 can be considered as a product/servicestamp that identifies the products and/or services for which the QR code702 was generated by the smart device 104. If the product/service stampof a given QR code does not match and/or correspond to the knownproducts/services involved in a current transaction, it can, in somecases, be determined/inferred that the QR code was not generated for thepurpose of the current transaction. Accordingly, financial instrumentinformation in the QR code can be refused.

As still another example, suppose that a current transaction has a totalcost of $75.00. In various cases, the smart device 104 can visuallyrender, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and the POS device 108 canscan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POS device 108 can thentransmit the QR code 702 and an indication that the transaction is knownto have a total cost of $75.00 to the payment processing system 112.Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can process and/oranalyze the QR code 702. Suppose that, based on such processing and/oranalysis, the payment processing system 112 determines that the QR code702 indicates the financial instrument information 302 and alsoindicates that it (the QR code 702) is generated for a transaction totalof $75.00. In such case, the payment processing system 112 can determinethat the price/value information stored within and/or correlated to theQR code 702 matches and/or corresponds to the known price/valueinformation of the current transaction. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system 112 can conclude that the user of the smart device 104is not attempting fraud (e.g., and/or can fail to conclude that the userof the smart device 104 is attempting fraud), and the payment processingsystem 112 can transmit a successful verification/validation message tothe POS device 108 and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 toaccept the financial instrument information 302 that is contained withinand/or correlated to the QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that,based on the processing and/or analysis, the payment processing system112 determines that the QR code 702 indicates the financial instrumentinformation 302 and also indicates that it (the QR code 702) isgenerated for a transaction total of $25.00. In such case, the paymentprocessing system 112 can determine that the price/value informationstored within and/or correlated to the QR code 702 does not match and/orcorrespond to the known price/value information of the currenttransaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can concludethat the user of the smart device 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., theuser of the smart device 104 can have impermissibly captured an image ofthe QR code 702 from its true owner, who can have been engaging in atransaction for $25.00 and not for $75.00, in an attempt to the stealthe financial instrument information of the true owner). The paymentprocessing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

In this way, the price/value information 504 inputted into and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 can be considered as a price stamp thatidentifies the overall and/or itemized monetary amounts for which the QRcode 702 was generated by the smart device 104. If the price stamp of agiven QR code does not match and/or correspond to the known prices/costsinvolved in a current transaction, it can, in some cases, bedetermined/inferred that the QR code was not generated for the purposeof the current transaction. Accordingly, financial instrumentinformation in the QR code can be refused.

As an additional example, suppose that a current transaction isfacilitated by merchant ABC. In various cases, the smart device 104 canvisually render, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and the POSdevice 108 can scan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POSdevice 108 can then transmit the QR code 702 and an indication that thetransaction is known to be facilitated by the merchant ABC to thepayment processing system 112. Accordingly, the payment processingsystem 112 can process and/or analyze the QR code 702. Suppose that,based on such processing and/or analysis, the payment processing system112 determines that the QR code 702 indicates the financial instrumentinformation 302 and also indicates that it (the QR code 702) isgenerated for a transaction facilitated by merchant ABC. In such case,the payment processing system 112 can determine that the merchantidentity information stored within and/or correlated to the QR code 702matches and/or corresponds to the known merchant identity information ofthe current transaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112can conclude that the user of the smart device 104 is not attemptingfraud (e.g., and/or can fail to conclude that the user of the smartdevice 104 is attempting fraud), and the payment processing system 112can transmit a successful verification/validation message to the POSdevice 108 and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to acceptthe financial instrument information 302 that is contained within and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based onthe processing and/or analysis, the payment processing system 112determines that the QR code 702 indicates the financial instrumentinformation 302 and also indicates that it (the QR code 702) isgenerated for a transaction facilitated by merchant XYZ. In such case,the payment processing system 112 can determine that the merchantidentity information stored within and/or correlated to the QR code 702does not match and/or correspond to the known merchant identityinformation of the current transaction. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system 112 can conclude that the user of the smart device 104is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of the smart device 104 can haveimpermissibly captured an image of the QR code 702 from its true owner,who can have been engaging in a transaction with merchant XYZ and notmerchant ABC, in an attempt to the steal the financial instrumentinformation of the true owner). The payment processing system 112 canthen transmit an unsuccessful verification/validation message to the POSdevice 108 and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse toaccept the financial instrument information 302 that is contained withinand/or correlated to the QR code 702.

In this way, the merchant identity information 602 inputted into and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 can be considered as a merchant stamp thatidentifies and/or corresponds to the merchant for which the QR code 702was generated by the smart device 104. If the merchant stamp of a givenQR code does not match and/or correspond to the known merchant involvedin a current transaction, it can, in some cases, be determined/inferredthat the QR code was not generated for the purpose of the currenttransaction. Accordingly, financial instrument information in the QRcode can be refused.

As another example, suppose that a current transaction involves a QRcode which stores and/or represents user identifier information (e.g.,birthdate of a user, address of a user, occupation of a user,password/passcode established by a user, security questions/answersestablished by a user). In various cases, the smart device 104 canvisually render, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and the POSdevice 108 can scan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POSdevice 108 can then transmit the QR code 702 to the payment processingsystem 112, and the payment processing system 112 can process and/oranalyze the QR code 702. Suppose that, based on such processing and/oranalysis, the payment processing system 112 determines that the QR code702 indicates the financial instrument information 302 and alsoindicates a birthdate of January 19 of 1992. In various cases, thepayment processing system 112 can instruct the POS device 108 to querythe smart device 104 (e.g., to query the user of the smart device 104)to verify the user's birthdate. If the user of the smart device 104indicates a birthdate of January 19 of 1992, the payment processingsystem 112 can determine that the user identity information storedwithin and/or correlated to the QR code 702 matches and/or correspondsto the user identity information inputted during the currenttransaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can concludethat the user of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud (e.g.,and/or can fail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104 isattempting fraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmit asuccessful verification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/orcan otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that the user of the smartdevice 104 indicates a birthdate of December 17 of 1985. In such case,the payment processing system 112 can determine that the user identityinformation stored within and/or correlated to the QR code 702 does notmatch and/or correspond to the user identity information inputted duringthe current transaction. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112can conclude that the user of the smart device 104 is attempting fraud(e.g., the user of the smart device 104 can have impermissibly capturedan image of the QR code 702 from its true owner, who can have abirthdate of January 19 of 1992 and not December 17 of 1985, in anattempt to the steal the financial instrument information of the trueowner). The payment processing system 112 can then transmit anunsuccessful verification/validation message to the POS device 108and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept thefinancial instrument information 302 that is contained within and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702.

In this way, the user identity information 604 inputted into and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 can be considered as a user stamp thatidentifies and/or corresponds to the user for which the QR code 702 wasgenerated by the smart device 104. If the user stamp of a given QR codedoes not match and/or correspond to the inputted user informationqueried during a current transaction, it can, in some cases, bedetermined/inferred that the QR code was not generated for the purposeof the current transaction. Accordingly, financial instrumentinformation in the QR code can be refused.

Overall, the QR code system 102 can, in some cases, encode, encrypt,and/or embed context-based information into (and/or can otherwisecorrelate/map such context-based information to) the QR code 702, whichcan be cross-checked by the payment processing system 112 to heightentransactional safety, security, and/or privacy.

FIG. 8 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 800 that can facilitate enhanced, context-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

As shown, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104 can, invarious embodiments, collect transaction context information at act 804(e.g., collect the geo-location information 402 via the GPS 406, collectthe time/date information 404 via the clock 408, collect theproduct/service information 502 via the camera 506, collect theprice/value information 504 via the camera 506, and/or collect themerchant identity information 602 via the camera 506).

In various cases, the POS device 108 can independently track transactioncontext information at act 806 (e.g., the POS device 108 can alreadyknow the geographic location of the transaction, the time/date of thetransaction, the products/services involved in the transaction, theprices/values involved in the transaction, the merchant facilitating thetransaction).

In various instances, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can, at act 808, generate and/or select a QR code (e.g., the QR code702) that corresponds to the transaction context information collectedat act 804 (e.g., by encoding/embedding such transaction contextinformation into the QR code).

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or smart device 104can display and/or visually render the QR code at act 810 for scanningand/or reading by the POS device 108 (e.g., the POS device 108 canextract the transaction context information encoded within the QR code).

In various cases, the POS device 108 can transmit both the QR code andthe independently-tracked transaction context information to the paymentprocessing system 112, at act 812.

In various aspects, the payment processing system 112 can verify thatthe transaction context information corresponding to the QR code isconsistent with the independently-tracked transaction contextinformation, at act 814 (e.g., can determine whether the transactioncontext information encoded within the QR code matches and/orcorresponds to and/or is consistent with the known context informationtracked/recorded by the POS device 108).

In various instances, if the transaction context information isverified, the payment processing system 112 can transmit to atransaction settlement system 802 financial instrument information(e.g., 302) that is encoded within and/or correlated to the QR code, atact 816. In various cases, the transaction settlement system 802 can beany suitable collection and/or network of computer servers and/ordatabases that can facilitate the transfer of funds from one financialaccount to another based upon the financial instrument informationstored within and/or correlated to the QR code.

In various aspects, if the transaction context information is notverified, the payment processing system 112 can refuse the financialinstrument information encoded within and/or correlated to the QR code,and/or can transmit an electronic message to that effect back to the POSdevice 108, at act 818.

FIG. 9 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 900 that can facilitate enhanced, context-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

In various embodiments, as shown, the POS device 108 can provide to theQR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104 transaction contextinformation via an electronic beacon (e.g., 410) at act 902. That is,the POS device 108 can inform the QR code system 102 and/or the smartdevice 104 of the geo-location information 402, the time/dateinformation 404, the product/service information 502, the price/valueinformation 504, and/or the merchant identity information 602. Asexplained above with respect to FIG. 8, acts 806-818 can be performed inaddition to act 902 (e.g., encoding the provided transaction contextinformation into a QR code, displaying the QR code, verifying thetransaction context information encoded in the QR code).

FIG. 10 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 1000 that can facilitate enhanced, restriction-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein. As shown, the system 1000 can, in some cases, comprise the samecomponents as the system 700, and can further comprise a restrictioncomponent 1002.

In various aspects, the restriction component 1002 can receive,retrieve, obtain, store, and/or maintain restriction-based informationregarding the user of the smart device 104 and/or regarding thefinancial instrument information 302 (not shown in FIG. 10 for sake ofspace). As explained herein, such restriction-based information caninclude any suitable conditions (e.g., which can be expressed in termsof Boolean operators) that limit and/or define the validity of thefinancial instrument information 302. In other words, suchrestriction-based information can define the transactional situations inwhich the financial instrument information 302 is deemed valid and/orinvalid (e.g., can define the circumstances under which the user of thesmart device 104 is authorized and/or permitted to use the financialinstrument information 302, and/or can define the circumstances underwhich the user of the smart device 104 is not authorized and/or notpermitted to use the financial instrument information 302). For example,such restriction-based information can include geo-fencing restrictionsthat define the geographic locations in which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered valid and/or the geographic locations inwhich the financial instrument information 302 is considered invalid,temporal and/or time-fencing restrictions that define the times and/ordates on which the financial instrument information 302 is consideredvalid and/or the times and/or dates on which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered invalid, product/service restrictions thatdefine the products and/or services for which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered valid and/or the products and/or servicesfor which the financial instrument information 302 is consideredinvalid, value/price restrictions that define the monetary amounts forwhich the financial instrument information 302 is considered validand/or the monetary amounts for which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered invalid, and/or merchant identityrestrictions that define the merchants for which the financialinstrument information 302 is considered valid and/or the merchants forwhich the financial instrument information 302 is considered invalid. Asexplained herein, the restriction component 1002 can, in some cases,retrieve and/or obtain such restriction-based information from anysuitable database and/or data structure which can be electronicallyaccessed (e.g., wired and/or wirelessly) by the restriction component1002. In some instances, the restriction component 1002 can simplyreceive such restriction-based information from input provided by a userof the smart device 104. In some cases, such restriction-basedinformation can be established, required, and/or inputted by an entitythat has authority over the user of the smart device 104 and/orauthority over the financial instrument information 302 (e.g., a creditcard company that extends credit to a customer can do so on conditionthat the customer abide by such restriction-based information; a parentcan lend a credit card to a child on condition that the child abide bysuch restriction-based information). In such cases, the restrictioncomponent 1002 can receive such restriction-based information from acomputerized system of the entity having authority over the user of thesmart device 104 (e.g., the restriction component 1002 can receiverestriction-based information from a credit card company's computingnetwork). As explained herein, the QR code system 102 can, in variouscases, encode, encrypt, and/or embed such restriction-based informationinto (and/or can otherwise correlate/map such restriction-basedinformation to) one or more electronically generated QR codes, the smartdevice 104 can visually render (e.g., via the display 106) such one ormore electronically generated QR codes, the POS device 108 can processand/or interpret (e.g., via the scanner 110) such one or moreelectronically generated QR codes to learn such restriction-basedinformation, and the payment processing system 112 can verify whethersuch restriction-based information is satisfied in order to help detectand/or prevent fraudulent transactions. In this way, safe, secure,and/or private transmission and/or conveyance of financial instrumentinformation can be facilitated.

FIG. 11 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method 1100 that can facilitateenhanced, restriction-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein. In various aspects, thecomputer-implemented method 1100 can be facilitated by the system 1000.

In various embodiments, act 1102 can include obtaining, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 1002), predeterminedtransaction restrictions associated with a transaction between a userand a merchant. For example, such predetermined transaction restrictionscan include geo-fencing restrictions, temporal restrictions,product/service restrictions, value/price restrictions, merchantidentity restrictions, and/or any other suitable restrictions thatdefine the circumstances under which financial instrument information isconsidered valid and/or invalid.

In various instances, act 1104 can include generating, by the device(e.g., 120), a quick response (QR) code based on the predeterminedtransaction restrictions and based on financial instrument informationof the user (e.g., 302). For example, this can include encoding,encrypting, and/or embedding into the QR code the credit card number ofthe user, the geo-fencing restrictions, the temporal restrictions, theproduct/service restrictions, the value/price restrictions, and/or themerchant identity restrictions.

In various aspects, act 1106 can include displaying, by the device(e.g., 104 and/or 122), the QR code on an electronic display (e.g.,106). For instance, the user's device can display the QR code, and amerchant point-of-sale device (e.g., 108) can scan the QR code and candecipher the predetermined transaction restrictions and the financialinstrument information that are encoded into and/or represented by theQR code. In various cases, as mentioned above, the point-of-sale devicecan independently track details and/or context-based information of thetransaction, and can thus check whether the predetermined transactionrestrictions encoded in the QR code are satisfied by the currenttransaction. If so, the point-of-sale device can accept the financialinstrument information that is also encoded within the QR code (e.g., ifthe restrictions that are represented in the QR code are collectivelysatisfied, it can be inferred that the financial instrument informationis valid for the current transaction). If not, on the other hand, thepoint-of-sale device can refuse to accept the financial instrumentinformation (e.g., if the restrictions that are represented in the QRcode are not collectively satisfied, it can be inferred that thefinancial instrument information is invalid for the currenttransaction).

FIG. 12 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 1200 including geo-fencing and temporal restrictionsthat can facilitate enhanced, restriction-based QR code generation inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, thesystem 1200 can, in some cases, comprise the same components as thesystem 1000, and can further comprise geo-fencing restrictions 1202and/or temporal restrictions 1204.

In various instances, the geo-fencing restrictions 1202 can be anysuitable conditions and/or Boolean expressions that define thegeographic circumstances under which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered/deemed valid and/or that define thegeographic circumstances under which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered/deemed invalid. In various cases, thegeo-fencing restrictions 1202 can be indicated at any suitable level ofgranularity (e.g., continents on which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is permitted/authorized to be used/charged, continentson which the financial instrument information 302 is notpermitted/authorized to be used/charged, countries in which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, countries in which the financial instrument information302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged, states/provinces inwhich the financial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorizedto be used/charged, states/provinces in which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged,cites/towns in which the financial instrument information 302 ispermitted/authorized to be used/charged, cities/towns in which thefinancial instrument information 302 is not permitted/authorized to beused/charged, addresses at which the financial instrument information302 is permitted/authorized to be used/charged, addresses at which thefinancial instrument information 302 is not permitted/authorized to beused/charged, latitudes/longitudes/elevations at which the financialinstrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to be used/charged,latitudes/longitudes/elevations at which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged, anyother suitable demarcated geographical regions/areas at which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, and/or any other suitable demarcated geographicalregions/areas at which the financial instrument information 302 is notpermitted/authorized to be used/charged). In various instances, therestriction component 1002 can receive and/or retrieve the geo-fencingrestrictions 1202 from any suitable database and/or data structure(e.g., from a credit card company's computing network). In some cases,the geo-fencing restrictions 1202 can be manually inputted by the userof the smart device 104 and/or by an entity having authority over theuser of the smart device 104 and/or authority over the financialinstrument information 302 (e.g., a parent can establish and/or specifythe geo-fencing restrictions 1202 for their child when the parent lendstheir financial instrument information to the child).

In various instances, the temporal restrictions 1204 can be any suitableconditions and/or Boolean expressions that define the temporal (e.g.,time and/or date) circumstances under which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered/deemed valid and/or that define thetemporal circumstances under which the financial instrument information302 is considered/deemed invalid. In various cases, the temporalrestrictions 1204 can be indicated at any suitable level of granularity(e.g., decades/years during which the financial instrument information302 is permitted/authorized to be used/charged, decades/years duringwhich the financial instrument information 302 is notpermitted/authorized to be used/charged, months during which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, months during which the financial instrument information302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged, days during whichthe financial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, days during which the financial instrument information 302is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged, hours during which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, hours during which the financial instrument information302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged, minutes during whichthe financial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, minutes during which the financial instrument information302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged, seconds during whichthe financial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, and/or seconds which the financial instrument information302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged). In variousinstances, the restriction component 1002 can receive and/or retrievethe temporal restrictions 1204 from any suitable database and/or datastructure (e.g., from a credit card company's computing network). Insome cases, the temporal restrictions 1204 can be manually inputted bythe user of the smart device 104 and/or by an entity having authorityover the user of the smart device 104 (e.g., a parent can establishand/or specify the temporal restrictions 1204 for their child when theparent lends their financial instrument information to the child).

FIG. 13 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 1300 including product/service and value/pricerestrictions that can facilitate enhanced, restriction-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.As shown, the system 1300 can, in some aspects, comprise the samecomponents as the system 1200, and can further comprise product/servicerestrictions 1302 and/or value/price restrictions 1304.

In various instances, the product/service restrictions 1302 can be anysuitable conditions and/or Boolean expressions that define the productsand/or services for which the financial instrument information 302 isconsidered/deemed valid and/or that define the products and/or servicesfor which the financial instrument information 302 is considered/deemedinvalid. In various cases, the product/service restrictions 1302 can beindicated at any suitable level of granularity (e.g., classes,categories, and/or types of products/services for which the financialinstrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to be used/charged;classes, categories, and/or types of products/services for which thefinancial instrument information 302 is not permitted/authorized to beused/charged; serial numbers, tokens, and/or identifiers ofproducts/services for which the financial instrument information 302 ispermitted/authorized to be used/charged; serial numbers, tokens, and/oridentifiers of products/services for which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged; brandnames of products/services for which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is permitted/authorized to be used/charged; and/or brandnames of products/services for which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged). Invarious instances, the restriction component 1002 can receive and/orretrieve the product/service restrictions 1302 from any suitabledatabase and/or data structure (e.g., from a credit card company'scomputing network). In some cases, the product/service restrictions 1302can be manually inputted by the user of the smart device 104 and/or byan entity having authority over the user of the smart device 104 and/orauthority over the financial instrument information 302 (e.g., a parentcan establish and/or specify the product/service restrictions 1302 fortheir child when the parent lends their financial instrument informationto the child).

In various instances, the value/price restrictions 1304 can be anysuitable conditions and/or Boolean expressions that define the overalland/or itemized monetary amounts for which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is considered/deemed valid and/or that define theoverall and/or itemized monetary amounts for which the financialinstrument information 302 is considered/deemed invalid. In variouscases, the value/price restrictions 1304 can be indicated at anysuitable level of granularity (e.g., monetary amounts for which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged, monetary amounts for which the financial instrumentinformation 302 is not permitted/authorized to be used/charged, maximummonetary amount for which the financial instrument information 302 ispermitted/authorized to be used/charged, minimum monetary amount forwhich the financial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorizedto be used/charged, and/or average monetary amounts for which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to beused/charged). In various instances, the restriction component 1002 canreceive and/or retrieve the value/price restrictions 1304 from anysuitable database and/or data structure (e.g., from a credit cardcompany's computing network). In some cases, the value/pricerestrictions 1304 can be manually inputted by the user of the smartdevice 104 and/or by an entity having authority over the user of thesmart device 104 and/or authority over the financial instrumentinformation 302 (e.g., a parent can establish and/or specify thevalue/price restrictions 1304 for their child when the parent lendstheir financial instrument information to the child).

FIG. 14 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 1400 including merchant identity restrictions thatcan facilitate enhanced, restriction-based QR code generation inaccordance with one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, thesystem 1400 can, in some cases, comprise the same components as thesystem 1300, and can further comprise merchant identity restrictions1402.

In various instances, the merchant identity restrictions 1402 can be anysuitable conditions and/or Boolean expressions that define themerchants, vendors, sellers, and/or product/service providers for whichthe financial instrument information 302 is considered/deemed validand/or that define the merchants, vendors, sellers, and/orproduct/service providers for which the financial instrument information302 is considered/deemed invalid. In various cases, the merchantidentity restrictions 1402 can be indicated at any suitable level ofgranularity (e.g., classes, categories, and/or types of merchants,vendors, sellers, and/or product/service providers to which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to betransferred; classes, categories, and/or types of merchants, vendors,sellers, and/or product/service providers to which the financialinstrument information 302 is not permitted/authorized to betransferred; serial numbers, tokens, and/or identifiers of merchants,vendors, sellers, and/or product/service providers to which thefinancial instrument information 302 is permitted/authorized to betransferred; serial numbers, tokens, and/or identifiers of merchants,vendors, sellers, and/or product/service providers to which thefinancial instrument information 302 is not permitted/authorized to betransferred; tradenames of merchants, vendors, sellers, and/orproduct/service providers to which the financial instrument information302 is permitted/authorized to be transferred; and/or tradenames ofmerchants, vendors, sellers, and/or product/service providers to whichthe financial instrument information 302 is not permitted/authorized tobe transferred). In various instances, the restriction component 1002can receive and/or retrieve the merchant identity restrictions 1402 fromany suitable database and/or data structure (e.g., from a credit cardcompany's computing network). In some cases, the merchant identityrestrictions 1402 can be manually inputted by the user of the smartdevice 104 and/or by an entity having authority over the user of thesmart device 104 (e.g., a parent can establish and/or specify themerchant identity restrictions 1402 for their child when the parentlends their financial instrument information to the child).

As mentioned above, the code generation component 122 can electronicallygenerate, via any suitable cryptographic and/or computational technique,the QR code 702 (not shown in FIG. 14 for sake of space) based on therestriction-based information obtained by the restriction component1002. In other words, the code generation component 122 can create theQR code 702 such that the QR code 702 represents, indicates, symbolizes,and/or is correlated to the financial instrument information 302, thegeo-fencing restrictions 1202, the temporal restrictions 1204, theproduct/service restrictions 1302, the value/price restrictions 1304,and/or the merchant identity restrictions 1402. In this way, the QR code702 can, in some cases, be considered as bound to permittedgeo-locations, bound to permitted times/dates, bound to permittedproducts/services, bound to permitted values/prices, and/or bound topermitted merchants.

As also mentioned above, the display component 124 can create thedisplay command 704 (not shown in FIG. 14 for sake of space), to causethe smart device 104 to visually render and/or illustrate the QR code702 on the display 106.

In various embodiments, the POS device 108 can scan, via the scanner110, the QR code 702 that is visually rendered on the display 106, andthe POS device 108 can accordingly interpret and/or process the QR code702 so as to extract the information contained within and/orrepresented/symbolized by the QR code 702. That is, in various cases,the POS device 108 can scan the QR code 702 that is displayed on thedisplay 106, and thereby can learn the financial instrument information302 and the restriction-based information (e.g., the geo-fencingrestrictions 1202, the temporal restrictions 1204, the product/servicerestrictions 1302, the value/price restrictions 1304, and/or themerchant identity restrictions 1402) that are encoded within the QR code702.

In various aspects, encoding restriction-based information (e.g., 1202,1204, 1302, 1304, and/or 1402) into the QR code 702 can improve privacyand/or fraud detection.

Specifically, the POS device 108 can, in some cases, independently trackthe context of a current transaction, and can transmit both the QR code702 and the independently-tracked context of the current transaction tothe payment processing system 112. In various instances, the paymentprocessing system 112 can compare the known context of the currenttransaction with the restriction-based information encoded in and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702 to determine whether the user of the smartdevice 104 is attempting fraud.

For example, suppose that a current transaction is taking place in thecountry of Canada (e.g., the POS device 108 is located within Canada,and the user of the smart device 104 physically approaches the POSdevice 108 to purchase/procure a product/service). In various cases, thesmart device 104 can visually render, via the display 106, the QR code702, and the POS device 108 can scan, via the scanner 110, the QR code702. The POS device 108 can then transmit the QR code 702 and the knowngeo-location of the transaction (e.g., Canada) to the payment processingsystem 112. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can processand/or analyze the QR code 702. Suppose that, based on such processingand/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determines that theQR code 702 indicates and/or is correlated to the financial instrumentinformation 302 and also indicates that the financial instrumentinformation 302 is valid in all of North America. In such case, thepayment processing system 112 can determine that the known geo-locationof the current transaction satisfies the geo-fencing restrictionsencoded and/or encrypted in (and/or correlated to) the QR code 702(e.g., Canada is in North America). Accordingly, the payment processingsystem 112 can conclude that the user of the smart device 104 is notattempting fraud (e.g., and/or can fail to conclude that the user of thesmart device 104 is attempting fraud), and the payment processing system112 can transmit a successful verification/validation message to the POSdevice 108 and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to acceptthe financial instrument information 302 that is contained within and/orcorrelated to the QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based onthe processing and/or analysis, the payment processing system 112determines that the QR code 702 indicates and/or is correlated to thefinancial instrument information 302 and also indicates that thefinancial instrument information 302 is valid only in the United States.In such case, the payment processing system 112 can determine that theknown geo-location of the current transaction does not satisfy thegeo-fencing restrictions encoded and/or encrypted in (and/or correlatedto) the QR code 702 (e.g., Canada is not in the United States).Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can conclude that theuser of the smart device 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of thesmart device 104 can be impermissibly attempting to use the financialinstrument information 302 in a geographic location that is forbidden byan entity with authority over the financial instrument information 302).The payment processing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

As another example, suppose that a current transaction is taking placein September. In various cases, the smart device 104 can visuallyrender, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and the POS device 108 canscan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POS device 108 can thentransit the QR code 702 and the known time/date of the transaction(e.g., September) to the payment processing system 112. Accordingly, thepayment processing system 112 can process and/or analyze the QR code702. Suppose that, based on such processing and/or analysis, the paymentprocessing system 112 determines that the QR code 702 indicates and/oris correlated to the financial instrument information 302 and alsoindicates that the financial instrument information 302 is valid fromAugust 1 to October 31. In such case, the payment processing system 112can determine that the known time/date of the current transactionsatisfies the temporal restrictions encoded and/or encrypted in (and/orcorrelated to) the QR code 702 (e.g., September falls between August 1and October 31). Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 canconclude that the user of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud(e.g., and/or can fail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104is attempting fraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmita successful verification/validation message to the POS device 108and/or can otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based on theprocessing and/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determinesthat the QR code 702 indicates and/or is correlated to the financialinstrument information 302 and also indicates that the financialinstrument information 302 is valid only from June 1 to July 31. In suchcase, the payment processing system 112 can determine that the knowntime/date of the current transaction does not satisfy the temporalrestrictions encoded and/or encrypted in (and/or correlated to) the QRcode 702 (e.g., September does not fall between June 1 to July 31).Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can conclude that theuser of the smart device 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of thesmart device 104 can be impermissibly attempting to use the financialinstrument information 302 at a time/date that is forbidden by an entitywith authority over the financial instrument information 302). Thepayment processing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

As still another example, suppose that a current transaction is for theprocurement/provision of cinema tickets. In various cases, the smartdevice 104 can visually render, via the display 106, the QR code 702,and the POS device 108 can scan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702.The POS device 108 can then transmit the QR code 702 and an indicationof the known products/services involved in the transaction (e.g., cinematickets) to the payment processing system 112. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system 112 can process and/or analyze the QR code 702.Suppose that, based on such processing and/or analysis, the paymentprocessing system 112 determines that the QR code 702 indicates and/oris correlated to the financial instrument information 302 and alsoindicates that the financial instrument information 302 is valid forgroceries, gasoline, and cinema tickets. In such case, the paymentprocessing system 112 can determine that the known products/servicesinvolved in the current transaction satisfy the product/servicerestrictions encoded and/or encrypted in (and/or correlated to) the QRcode 702. Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can concludethat the user of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud (e.g.,and/or can fail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104 isattempting fraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmit asuccessful verification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/orcan otherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based on theprocessing and/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determinesthat the QR code 702 indicates and/or is correlated to the financialinstrument information 302 and also indicates that the financialinstrument information 302 is valid only for groceries and gasoline. Insuch case, the payment processing system 112 can determine that theknown products/services involved in the current transaction do notsatisfy the product/service restrictions encoded and/or encrypted in(and/or correlated to) the QR code 702. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system 112 can conclude that the user of the smart device 104is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of the smart device 104 can beimpermissibly attempting to use the financial instrument information 302to purchase products/services that are forbidden by an entity withauthority over the financial instrument information 302). The paymentprocessing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

As still another example, suppose that a current transaction has a totalcost of $100.00. In various cases, the smart device 104 can visuallyrender, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and the POS device 108 canscan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POS device 108 can thentransmit the QR code702 and the known prices/values involved in thetransaction (e.g., $100.00) to the payment processing system 112.Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can process and/oranalyze the QR code 702. Suppose that, based on such processing and/oranalysis, the payment processing system 112 determines that the QR code702 indicates and/or is correlated to the financial instrumentinformation 302 and also indicates that the financial instrumentinformation 302 is valid for expenditures up to $300.00. In such case,the payment processing system 112 can determine that the knownvalues/prices involved in the current transaction satisfy thevalue/price restrictions encoded and/or encrypted in (and/or correlatedto) the QR code 702 (e.g., $100.00 does not exceed $300.00).Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can conclude that theuser of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud (e.g., and/or canfail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104 is attemptingfraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmit a successfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financial instrumentinformation 302 that is contained within and/or correlated to the QRcode 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based on the processingand/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determines that theQR code 702 indicates and/or is correlated to the financial instrumentinformation 302 and also indicates that the financial instrumentinformation 302 is valid only for expenditures up to $50.00. In suchcase, the payment processing system 112 can determine that the knownvalues/prices involved in the current transaction do not satisfy thevalue/price restrictions encoded and/or encrypted in (and/or correlatedto) the QR code 702 (e.g., $100.00 exceeds $50.00). Accordingly, thepayment processing system 112 can conclude that the user of the smartdevice 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of the smart device 104can be impermissibly attempting to use the financial instrumentinformation 302 to spend an amount of money that is forbidden by anentity with authority over the financial instrument information 302).The payment processing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

As an additional example, suppose that a current transaction isfacilitated by a manicurist. In various cases, the smart device 104 canvisually render, via the display 106, the QR code 702, and the POSdevice 108 can scan, via the scanner 110, the QR code 702. The POSdevice 108 can then transmit the QR code 702 and an indication of theidentity of the merchant known to be facilitating the transaction (e.g.,manicurist) to the payment processing system 112. Accordingly, thepayment processing system 112 can process and/or analyze the QR code702. Suppose that, based on such processing and/or analysis, the paymentprocessing system 112 determines that the QR code 702 indicates and/oris correlated to the financial instrument information 302 and alsoindicates that the financial instrument information 302 is valid formanicurists, grocery stores, and restaurants. In such case, the paymentprocessing system 112 can determine that the known merchant involved inthe current transaction satisfies the merchant identity restrictionsencoded and/or encrypted in (and/or correlated to) the QR code 702.Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can conclude that theuser of the smart device 104 is not attempting fraud (e.g., and/or canfail to conclude that the user of the smart device 104 is attemptingfraud), and the payment processing system 112 can transmit a successfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to accept the financial instrumentinformation 302 that is contained within and/or correlated to the QRcode 702. On the other hand, suppose that, based on the processingand/or analysis, the payment processing system 112 determines that theQR code 702 indicates and/or is correlated to the financial instrumentinformation 302 and also indicates that the financial instrumentinformation 302 is valid only for grocery stores and restaurants. Insuch case, the payment processing system 112 can determine that theknown merchant involved in the current transaction does not satisfy themerchant identity restrictions encoded and/or encrypted in (and/orcorrelated to) the QR code 702 (e.g., a manicurist is not a grocerystore or a restaurant).

Accordingly, the payment processing system 112 can conclude that theuser of the smart device 104 is attempting fraud (e.g., the user of thesmart device 104 can be impermissibly attempting to use the financialinstrument information 302 with a merchant that is forbidden by anentity with authority over the financial instrument information 302).The payment processing system 112 can then transmit an unsuccessfulverification/validation message to the POS device 108 and/or canotherwise instruct the POS device 108 to refuse to accept the financialinstrument information 302 that is contained within and/or correlated tothe QR code 702.

Overall, the QR code system 102 can, in some cases, encoderestriction-based information into (and/or otherwise correlate/map suchrestriction-based information to) the QR code 702, which can beevaluated by the payment processing system 112 (and/or by the POS device108) to heighten transactional safety, security, and/or privacy. Inother words, QR codes can, in some cases, be bound to specificcircumstances (e.g., usable and/or unusable in specific geo-locations,usable and/or unusable at specific times/dates, usable and/or unusablefor specific products/services, usable and/or unusable for specificmonetary amounts, and/or usable and/or unusable with specificmerchants).

FIG. 15 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 1500 that can facilitate enhanced,restriction-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device104 can receive transaction restrictions at act 1502 (e.g., can obtainand/or receive as input the geo-fencing restrictions 1202, the temporalrestrictions 1204, the product/service restrictions 1302, thevalue/price restrictions 1304, and/or the merchant identity restrictions1402).

In various cases, the POS device 108 can independently track transactioncontext information, at act 1504 (e.g., the POS device 108 can alreadyknow the geographic location of the transaction, the time/date of thetransaction, the products/services involved in the transaction, theprices/values involved in the transaction, the merchant facilitating thetransaction).

In various instances, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can, at act 1506, generate and/or select a QR code (e.g., the QR code702) that corresponds to the transaction restrictions collected at act1502 (e.g., by encoding/embedding such transaction restrictions into theQR code).

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device104 can display and/or visually render the QR code at act 1508 forscanning and/or reading by the POS device 108 (e.g., the POS device 108can extract the transaction restrictions encoded within the QR code).

In various cases, the POS device 108 can transmit both the QR code andthe independently-tracked transaction context information to the paymentprocessing system 112, at act 1510.

In various aspects, the payment processing system 112 can verify thatthe transaction restrictions corresponding to the QR code arecollectively satisfied by the independently-tracked transaction contextinformation, at act 1512 (e.g., can determine whether the transactionrestrictions encoded within the QR code are violated by the knowncontext information tracked/recorded by the POS device 108).

In various instances, if the transaction restrictions are satisfied, thepayment processing system 112 can transmit to the transaction settlementsystem 802 financial instrument information (e.g., 302) that is encodedwithin (and/or correlated to) the QR code, at act 1514.

In various aspects, if the transaction restrictions are not satisfied,the payment processing system 112 can refuse the financial instrumentinformation encoded within (and/or correlated to) the QR code, and/orcan transmit an electronic message to that effect back to the POS device108, at act 1516.

FIG. 16 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow that facilitates enhanced, restriction-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

The above discussion illustrates how the payment processing system 112can evaluate restriction-based information that is encoded and/orembedded within (and/or otherwise correlated to) a QR code. However, invarious embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can evaluate such restriction-based information to determine whether ornot to electronically generate and/or display a QR code at all. That is,in place of and/or possibly in addition to embedding therestriction-based information into the QR code (as described above), theQR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104 can, in some embodiments,treat the restriction-based information as triggering criteria that mustbe collectively satisfied before a QR code can be electronicallygenerated and/or displayed (e.g., such that a QR code can only beelectronically generated and/or displayed in particular geo-locations,at particular times, for purposes of procuring particularproducts/services, for purposes of paying particular prices, and/or forpurposes of transacting with particular merchants).

As shown, in various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or thesmart device 104 can receive transaction restrictions (e.g., 1202, 1204,1302, 1304, and/or 1402) at act 1602.

As also shown, in various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or thesmart device 104 can collect transaction context information at act 1604(e.g., can determine the geo-location, time/date, products/services,prices/values, and/or merchants that are involved in a currenttransaction, as described above).

In various aspects, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can generate and/or select a QR code (e.g., 702) only if the QR codesystem 102 determines that the transaction context information satisfiesand/or is consistent with the transaction restrictions, at act 1606.

In various instances, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can display the QR code at act 1608 for scanning and/or reading by thePOS device 108, the POS device 108 can transmit to the paymentprocessing system 112 the QR code at act 1610, and the paymentprocessing system 112 can transmit to the transaction settlement system802 the financial instrument information that is encoded in and/orcorrelated to the QR code at act 1612.

FIG. 17 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 1700 that can facilitate enhanced,restriction-based QR code generation in accordance with one or moreembodiments described herein.

In various aspects, the POS device 108 can independently tracktransaction context information at act 1702, and can provide to the QRcode system 102 and/or the smart device 104 the transaction contextinformation (e.g., such as via an electronic beacon that is at or nearthe POS device 108) at act 1704. In various aspects, as shown, the acts1602 and 1606-1612 can be as described above.

To help clarify this discussion, consider the following non-limitingexample. Suppose that a parent authorizes a child to use a credit cardnumber (e.g., financial instrument information 302) only if the childdoes not spend/charge over $20.00 in any single transaction. Asexplained above with respect to FIG. 16, the QR code system 102 can, insome cases, embed, encode, and/or encrypt the credit card number and the$20.00 price restriction into a QR code (and/or can otherwise correlatesuch information to the QR code). Thus, when the POS device 108 scansthe QR code, the POS device can be made aware of both the credit cardnumber and the $20.00 price restriction. Accordingly, the paymentprocessing system 112 can instruct the POS device 108 to accept thecredit card number if the actual amount of money to be charged in thetransaction does not exceed $20.00. If, on the other hand, the actualamount of money to be charged in the transaction does exceed $20.00, thepayment processing system 112 can instruct the POS device 108 to refuseto accept/charge the credit card number.

However, in some cases such as those consistent with FIGS. 16 and 17,the QR code system 102 can determine whether the potential and/orcurrent transaction would violate the $20.00 price restriction beforethe QR code system 102 generates and/or displays the QR code. In suchcase, the QR code system 102 can sense, detect, and/or receive themonetary amount to be charged in the transaction (e.g., such as by anelectronic beacon at or near the POS device 108). If the monetary amountto be charged in the transaction does not violate the $20.00 pricerestriction, the QR code system 102 can electronically generate a QRcode containing the credit card number. That QR code can then bedisplayed on the smart device 104 to the POS device 108 for scanning.If, on the other hand, the monetary amount to be charged in thetransaction does violate the $20.00 price restriction, the QR codesystem 102 can refrain from electronically generating and/or displayinga QR code at all. In any case, the safety, security, and/or privacy ofthe transaction can be heightened by the QR code system 102.

FIG. 18 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 1800 that can facilitate enhanced, biometric-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein. As shown, the system 1800 can, in some cases, comprise the samecomponents as the system 1400, and can further comprise a biometriccomponent 1802.

In various embodiments, the biometric component 1802 can receive,retrieve, obtain, store, and/or maintain biometric-based informationregarding the user of the smart device 104 and/or regarding thefinancial instrument information 302 (not shown in FIG. 18 for sake ofspace). As explained herein, such biometric-based information caninclude any suitable biometric signatures that correspond to knownauthorized users of the financial instrument information 302 (e.g.,fingerprint signatures of users that are authorized to use the financialinstrument information 302, facial image signatures of users that areauthorized to use the financial instrument information 302, vocalsoundbite signatures of users that are authorized to use the financialinstrument information 302). In various embodiments, suchbiometric-based information can be treated as triggering criteria forthe generation and/or display of QR codes. In other words, the QR codesystem 102 can store biometric signatures (e.g., fingerprints, facialimages, and/or vocal soundbites) of users/entities that are known to beauthorized to use the financial instrument information 302. Moreover, invarious cases, the QR code system 102 can query a current and/orattempted user of the smart device 104 for biometric samples (e.g., canscan the fingerprints of the current and/or attempted user, can capturean image of the face of the current and/or attempted user, and/or cancapture an audio recording of the voice of the current and/or attempteduser). In various aspects, the QR code system 102 can compare thecollected biometric samples to the stored biometric signatures in orderto determine whether the current and/or attempted user is authorized touse the financial instrument information 302. If the QR code system 102biometrically determines that the current and/or attempted user isauthorized to use the financial instrument information 302, the QR codesystem 102 can electronically generate and/or display a QR code thatrepresents the financial instrument information 302. If the QR codesystem 102 biometrically determines that the current and/or attempteduser is not authorized to use the financial instrument information 302,the QR code system 102 can refrain from electronically generating and/ordisplaying a QR code that represents the financial instrumentinformation 302. In this way, the QR code system 102 can help to reducefraud by generating and/or displaying QR codes only for authorizedusers.

FIG. 19 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method 1900 that can facilitateenhanced, biometric-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein. In various aspects, thecomputer-implemented method 1900 can be implemented by the system 1800.

In various embodiments, act 1902 can include obtaining, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 104), biometric informationassociated with an attempted user (e.g., a user/entity that is promptingthe QR code system 102 to generate and/or display a QR code withembedded financial instrument information). For example, the biometricinformation can include fingerprint scans of the attempted user, imagesof the face of the attempted user, soundbites of the voice of theattempted user, and/or any other suitable biometric data.

In various aspects, act 1904 can include determining, by the device(e.g., 102 and/or 1802), whether the attempted use is authorized to usea QR code by comparing the obtained biometric information to storedbiometric information corresponding to authorized users. For instance,this can include comparing the scanned fingerprints of the attempteduser to stored fingerprints of known authorized users, comparing thefacial images of the attempted user to stored facial images of knownauthorized users, and/or comparing voice recordings of the attempteduser to stored voice recordings of known authorized users.

In various cases, act 1906 can include displaying, by the device (e.g.,124 and/or 104), a QR code on an electronic display (e.g., 106) if theattempted user is determined to be authorized to use a QR code. Forinstance, after determining that biometric information provided by theattempted user matches and/or corresponds to stored biometricinformation of known authorized users, the user's device can display theQR code and a merchant point-of-sale device (e.g., 108) can scan the QRcode and can decipher financial instrument information (e.g., 302) thatis encoded within the QR code.

FIG. 20 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 2000 including biometric signatures that canfacilitate enhanced, biometric-based QR code generation in accordancewith one or more embodiments described herein. As shown, the system 2000can, in some cases, comprise the same components as the system 1800, andcan further comprise authorized fingerprint signatures 2002, authorizedfacial signatures 2004, and/or authorized vocal signatures 2006.

In various instances, the authorized fingerprint signatures 2002 can beany suitable fingerprint scans of users and/or entities that are knownto be authorized to use in commercial transactions the financialinstrument information 302. In various aspects, when an attempted userprompts the QR code system 102 to generate a QR code, the smart device104 can leverage a fingerprint scanner 2008 to collect from theattempted user a fingerprint sample. The biometric component 1802 canthen compare the fingerprint sample of the attempted user to theauthorized fingerprint signatures 2002 (e.g., via any suitablecomputational and/or pattern recognition technique). If the fingerprintsample of the attempted user matches and/or corresponds to at least oneof the authorized fingerprint signatures 2002, the biometric component1802 can determine that the attempted user is an authorized user. The QRcode system 102 can accordingly generate and/or display a QR code asprompted by the attempted user. If, however, the fingerprint sample ofthe attempted user does not match and/or correspond to at least one ofthe authorized fingerprint signatures 2002, the biometric component 1802can determine that the attempted user is not an authorized user. The QRcode system 102 can accordingly refrain from generating and/ordisplaying a QR code despite being prompted by the attempted user.

In various instances, the authorized facial signatures 2004 can be anysuitable facial images of users and/or entities that are known to beauthorized to use in commercial transactions the financial instrumentinformation 302. In various aspects, when an attempted user prompts theQR code system 102 to generate a QR code, the smart device 104 canleverage the camera 506 to capture a facial image of the attempted user.The biometric component 1802 can then compare the facial image of theattempted user to the authorized facial signatures 2004 (e.g., via anysuitable computational and/or pattern recognition technique). If thefacial image of the attempted user matches and/or corresponds to atleast one of the authorized facial signatures 2004, the biometriccomponent 1802 can determine that the attempted user is an authorizeduser. The QR code system 102 can accordingly generate and/or display aQR code as prompted by the attempted user. If, however, the facial imageof the attempted user does not match and/or correspond to at least oneof the authorized facial signatures 2004, the biometric component 1802can determine that the attempted user is not an authorized user. The QRcode system 102 can accordingly refrain from generating and/ordisplaying a QR code despite being prompted by the attempted user.

In various instances, the authorized vocal signatures 2006 can be anysuitable voice recordings and/or vocal soundbites of users and/orentities that are known to be authorized to use in commercialtransactions the financial instrument information 302. In variousaspects, when an attempted user prompts the QR code system 102 togenerate a QR code, the smart device 104 can leverage the microphone2010 to capture a voice sample of the attempted user. The biometriccomponent 1802 can then compare the voice sample of the attempted userto the authorized vocal signatures 2006 (e.g., via any suitablecomputational and/or pattern recognition technique). If the voice sampleof the attempted user matches and/or corresponds to at least one of theauthorized vocal signatures 2006, the biometric component 1802 candetermine that the attempted user is an authorized user. The QR codesystem 102 can accordingly generate and/or display a QR code as promptedby the attempted user. If, however, the voice sample of the attempteduser does not match and/or correspond to at least one of the authorizedvocal signatures 2006, the biometric component 1802 can determine thatthe attempted user is not an authorized user. The QR code system 102 canaccordingly refrain from generating and/or displaying a QR code despitebeing prompted by the attempted user.

In various embodiments, any suitable biometric information and/orbiometric data can be used as triggering criteria for the generationand/or display of QR codes (e.g., fingerprint recognition, facialrecognition, voice recognition, DNA recognition, retina recognition,blood recognition). In such embodiments, any suitable biometric sensorscan be employed (e.g., miniature DNA analyzer incorporated into thesmart device 104, blood sampler and/or analyzer incorporated into thesmart device 104).

FIG. 21 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 2100 that can facilitate enhanced, biometric-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device104 can collect biometric information (e.g., via 506, 2008, and/or 2010)from an attempted user, at act 2102.

In various instances, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can generate and/or select a QR code (e.g., 702) only if the biometricinformation matches and/or corresponds to and/or is consistent withauthorized biometric signatures (e.g., 2002, 2004, 2006) that are knownand/or maintained by the QR code system 102, at act 2104.

In various aspects, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can display (e.g., visually render) the QR code to the POS device 108for scanning and/or reading, at act 2106.

In various instances, the POS device 108 can transmit to the paymentprocessing system 112 the QR code at act 2108, and the paymentprocessing system 112 can transmit to the transaction settlement system802 the financial instrument information (e.g., 302) that is encodedand/or embedded within (and/or that corresponds to) the QR code, at act2110.

FIG. 22 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 2200 that can facilitate enhanced, gesture-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein. As shown, the system 2200 can, in some instances, comprise thesame components as the system 2000, and can further comprise a gesturecomponent 2202.

In various embodiments, the gesture component 2202 can receive,retrieve, obtain, store, and/or maintain gesture-based informationregarding the user of the smart device 104 and/or regarding thefinancial instrument information 302 (not shown in FIG. 22 for sake ofspace). As explained herein, such gesture-based information can, invarious cases, include any suitable physical manipulations of the smartdevice 104 that are required to be performed prior to the electronicgeneration and/or display of QR codes (e.g., prior to the divulgation ofthe financial instrument information 302). For example, suchgesture-based information can include physical motions performed withthe smart device 104, physical tilts and/or orientations performed withthe smart device 104, and/or any other suitable physical manipulationsperformed with the smart device 104. In various embodiments, suchgesture-based information can be treated as triggering criteria for thegeneration and/or display of QR codes. In other words, the QR codesystem 102 can store authorized gestures (e.g., motions, tilts,orientations, pans, rotations, bumps, and/or any other suitable movementpatterns) that can be required to be performed with the smart device 104prior to the generation and/or display of QR codes. In various cases,the QR code system 102 can utilize motion sensors (e.g., accelerometers,gyroscopic sensors) in the smart device 104 to determine whether or notan authorized gesture has been performed. In various cases, the QR codesystem 102 can refrain from generating and/or displaying QR codes thatrepresent the financial instrument information 302 until the QR codesystem 102 senses and/or determines that an authorized gesture has beenperformed with the smart device 104. In this way, the QR code system 102can help to reduce fraud and increase security by generating and/ordisplaying QR codes only when proper triggering criteria are present.

FIG. 23 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method 2300 that can facilitateenhanced, gesture-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein. In various aspects, thecomputer-implemented method 2300 can be facilitated and/or implementedby the system 2200.

In various embodiments, act 2302 can include obtaining, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 104), gesture informationassociated with an attempted user. For example, such gesture informationcan include a physical motion, a physical tilt, a physical orientation,a physical manipulation, and/or any other physical movement pattern thatis performed by the smart device 104 held by the attempted user.

In various aspects, act 2304 can include determining, by the device(e.g., 2202), whether the attempted user is authorized to use a QR codeby comparing the obtained gesture information to stored gestureinformation corresponding to authorized gestures. For example, this caninclude comparing the physical motion, tilt, orientation, manipulation,and/or movement pattern of the smart device performed by the attempteduser to stored motions, tilts, orientations, manipulations, and/ormovement patterns that are known and/or deemed to trigger and/or unlockQR codes.

In various instances, act 2306 can include displaying, by the device(e.g., 104 and/or 122), a QR code on an electronic display (e.g., 106)if the attempted user is determined to be authorized to use a QR code.For example, the user's device can display the QR code, and a merchantpoint-of-sale device can scan the QR code and can decipher financialinstrument information (e.g., 302) that is encoded and/or embeddedwithin the QR code.

FIG. 24 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 2400 including authorized gestures that canfacilitate enhanced, gesture-based QR code generation in accordance withone or more embodiments described herein. As shown, the system 2400 can,in some instances, comprise the same components as the system 2200, andcan further comprise authorized gestures 2402.

In various embodiments, the authorized gestures 2402 can be any suitablephysical motions, physical tilts, physical orientations, physicalmanipulations, and/or physical movement patterns of the smart device 104that can be required to trigger the electronic generation and/or displayof a QR code that represents the financial instrument information 302(not shown in FIG. 24 for sake of space). Some non-limiting examples ofthe authorized gestures 2402 can include orienting the smart device 104face-up, orienting the smart device 104 face-down, orienting the smartdevice at any other suitable angle and/or orientation inthree-dimensional space, performing an up-and-down motion with the smartdevice 104, performing a side-to-side motion with the smart device 104,moving the smart device 104 in a circle (e.g., clockwise and/orcounterclockwise), moving the smart device 104 in a figure-eight motion,moving the smart device 104 in an X-shaped motion, and/or moving thesmart device 104 in any other suitable way. In various aspects, when anattempted user prompts the QR code system 102 to generate a QR code, thesmart device 104 can leverage an accelerometer 2404 (e.g., and/or anyother suitable motion sensor and/or gyroscopic sensor) to sense themotion and/or orientation of the smart device 104. The gesture component2202 can then compare the sensed motion and/or orientation of the smartdevice 104 to the authorized gestures 2402 (e.g., via any suitablecomputational and/or pattern recognition technique). If the sensedmotion and/or orientation matches and/or corresponds to at least one ofthe authorized gestures 2402, the gesture component 2202 can determinethat the attempted user is an authorized user and/or that the attempteduser has successfully unlocked QR code generation. The QR code system102 can accordingly generate and/or display a QR code as prompted by theattempted user. If, however, the sensed motion and/or orientation doesnot match and/or correspond to at least one of the authorized gestures2402, the gesture component 2202 can determine that the attempted useris not an authorized user and/or that the attempted user has notsuccessfully unlocked QR code generation. The QR code system 102 canaccordingly refrain from generating and/or displaying a QR code despitebeing prompted by the attempted user.

For example, suppose the user of the smart device 104 desires to engagein a transaction, and suppose that the authorized gestures 2402 includeonly a figure-eight motion. In various cases, the QR code system 102 canmonitor the physical motion and/or orientation of the smart device 104via the accelerometer 2404 (and/or via any other suitable motionsensors). In various aspects, the QR code system 102 can refrain fromgenerating and/or displaying a QR code that represents the financialinstrument information 302 until the user performs a figure-eight motionwith the smart device 104 (e.g., by controllably moving the smart device104 through the air in the path and/or pattern of a figure-eight). Inthis way, divulgation of QR codes (and thus of the financial instrumentinformation 302) can be prevented until a triggering gesture isperformed.

In various other embodiments, physical gestures/motions sensed by thegesture component 2202 via the accelerometer 2404 can be performed by auser of the smart device 104 in order to select a desired QR code togenerate and/or display. As explained throughout, various embodiments ofthe subject innovation can include embedding various information (e.g.,context-based information, restriction-based information, privacy-basedinformation) into QR codes, and/or otherwise correlating/mapping QRcodes to such various information. Thus, in various instances, differentphysical gestures/motions can be correlated to different information,and the performance of such different physical gestures/motions cantrigger the creation and/or display of different QR codes that likewisecorrespond to the different information. For example, suppose that afirst gesture/motion corresponds to a first financial instrument (e.g.,a particular credit card) and that a second motion corresponds to asecond financial instrument (e.g., a particular gift card). If thegesture component 2202 detects, via the accelerometer 2404, that thefirst gesture/motion is performed with the smart device 104, the QR codesystem 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QR code thatcorresponds and/or is correlated to the first financial instrument(e.g., the particular credit card number can be embedded within the QRcode and/or otherwise mapped to the particular optical barcode patternof the QR code). If, on the other hand, the gesture component 2202detects, via the accelerometer 2404, that the second gesture/motion isperformed with the smart device 104, the QR code system 102 cangenerate, select, and/or display a QR code that corresponds and/or iscorrelated to the second financial instrument (e.g., the particular giftcard number can be embedded within the QR code and/or otherwise mappedto the particular optical barcode pattern of the QR code).

As another example, suppose that a first gesture/motion corresponds to afirst geo-location and/or set of geo-locations and that a second motioncorresponds to a second geo-location and/or set of geo-locations. If thegesture component 2202 detects, via the accelerometer 2404, that thefirst gesture/motion is performed with the smart device 104, the QR codesystem 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QR code thatcorresponds and/or is correlated to the first geo-location and/or set ofgeo-locations (e.g., an indication of the first geo-location and/or setof geo-locations can be embedded within the QR code and/or otherwisemapped to the particular optical barcode pattern of the QR code). If, onthe other hand, the gesture component 2202 detects, via theaccelerometer 2404, that the second gesture/motion is performed with thesmart device 104, the QR code system 102 can generate, select, and/ordisplay a QR code that corresponds and/or is correlated to the secondgeo-location and/or set of geo-locations (e.g., an indication of thesecond geo-location and/or set of geo-locations can be embedded withinthe QR code and/or otherwise mapped to the particular optical barcodepattern of the QR code).

As another example, suppose that a first gesture/motion corresponds to afirst time/date and/or set of times/dates and that a second motioncorresponds to a second time/date and/or set of times/dates. If thegesture component 2202 detects, via the accelerometer 2404, that thefirst gesture/motion is performed with the smart device 104, the QR codesystem 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QR code thatcorresponds and/or is correlated to the first time/date and/or set oftimes/dates (e.g., an indication of the first time/date and/or set oftimes/dates can be embedded within the QR code and/or otherwise mappedto the particular optical barcode pattern of the QR code). If, on theother hand, the gesture component 2202 detects, via the accelerometer2404, that the second gesture/motion is performed with the smart device104, the QR code system 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QRcode that corresponds and/or is correlated to the second time/dateand/or set of times/dates (e.g., an indication of the second time/dateand/or set of times/dates can be embedded within the QR code and/orotherwise mapped to the particular optical barcode pattern of the QRcode).

As another example, suppose that a first gesture/motion corresponds to afirst product/service and/or set of products/services and that a secondmotion corresponds to a second product/service and/or set ofproducts/services. If the gesture component 2202 detects, via theaccelerometer 2404, that the first gesture/motion is performed with thesmart device 104, the QR code system 102 can generate, select, and/ordisplay a QR code that corresponds and/or is correlated to the firstproduct/service and/or set of products/services (e.g., an indication ofthe first product/service and/or set of products/services can beembedded within the QR code and/or otherwise mapped to the particularoptical barcode pattern of the QR code). If, on the other hand, thegesture component 2202 detects, via the accelerometer 2404, that thesecond gesture/motion is performed with the smart device 104, the QRcode system 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QR code thatcorresponds and/or is correlated to the second product/service and/orset of products/services (e.g., an indication of the secondproduct/service and/or set of products/services can be embedded withinthe QR code and/or otherwise mapped to the particular optical barcodepattern of the QR code).

As another example, suppose that a first gesture/motion corresponds to afirst transaction amount and/or set of transaction amounts and that asecond motion corresponds to a second transaction amount and/or set oftransaction amounts. If the gesture component 2202 detects, via theaccelerometer 2404, that the first gesture/motion is performed with thesmart device 104, the QR code system 102 can generate, select, and/ordisplay a QR code that corresponds and/or is correlated to the firsttransaction amount and/or set of transaction amounts (e.g., anindication of the first transaction amount and/or set of transactionamounts can be embedded within the QR code and/or otherwise mapped tothe particular optical barcode pattern of the QR code). If, on the otherhand, the gesture component 2202 detects, via the accelerometer 2404,that the second gesture/motion is performed with the smart device 104,the QR code system 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QR codethat corresponds and/or is correlated to the second transaction amountand/or set of transaction amounts (e.g., an indication of the secondtransaction amount and/or set of transaction amounts can be embeddedwithin the QR code and/or otherwise mapped to the particular opticalbarcode pattern of the QR code).

As another example, suppose that a first gesture/motion corresponds to afirst merchant and/or set of merchants and that a second motioncorresponds to a second merchant and/or set of merchants. If the gesturecomponent 2202 detects, via the accelerometer 2404, that the firstgesture/motion is performed with the smart device 104, the QR codesystem 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QR code thatcorresponds and/or is correlated to the first merchant and/or set ofmerchants (e.g., an indication of the first merchant and/or set ofmerchants can be embedded within the QR code and/or otherwise mapped tothe particular optical barcode pattern of the QR code). If, on the otherhand, the gesture component 2202 detects, via the accelerometer 2404,that the second gesture/motion is performed with the smart device 104,the QR code system 102 can generate, select, and/or display a QR codethat corresponds and/or is correlated to the second merchant and/or setof merchants (e.g., an indication of the second merchant and/or set ofmerchants can be embedded within the QR code and/or otherwise mapped tothe particular optical barcode pattern of the QR code).

In this way, physical/gestures can be considered as a way to receiveinput from the user of the smart device 104, which input can constitutea selection of a desired QR code to generate, select, and/or display.

In some embodiments, the accelerometer 2404 (and/or any other suitablemotion sensors) can be used to pinpoint a precise time at which thesmart device 104 is displayed to the POS device 108. That is, theaccelerometer 2404 can detect a physical motion pattern that isconsistent with displaying and/or presenting a mobile phone screen to abarcode scanner, and the time of such physical motion pattern can bemarked, recorded, embedded within, and/or otherwise correlated to the QRcode that is rendered on the mobile phone screen at the time that thephysical motion pattern is performed. In some cases, the POS device 108and/or the transaction settlement system 802 can compare theknown/trusted time at which the transaction is occurring to theaccelerometer-based time that is correlated to the QR code. If they areconsistent, the POS device 108 and/or the transaction settlement system802 can determine that the QR code is valid. If they are inconsistent,however, the POS device 108 and/or the transaction settlement system 802can determine that the QR code is invalid.

FIG. 25 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 2500 that can facilitate enhanced, gesture-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device104 can collect gesture information (e.g., via the accelerometer 2404)at act 2502. As explained above, such gesture information can be thephysical motions, tilts, orientations, manipulations, and/or movementpatterns that are being performed with and/or experienced by the smartdevice 104.

In various cases, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104 cangenerate and/or select a QR code (e.g., 702) only if the gestureinformation matches and/or corresponds to at least one authorizedgesture (e.g., 2402) known and/or maintained by the QR code system 102,at act 2504.

In various aspects, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can display to the POS device 108 the QR code for scanning and/orreading, at act 2506.

In various cases, the POS device 108 can transmit to the paymentprocessing system 112 the QR code at act 2508, and the paymentprocessing system 112 can transmit to the transaction settlement system802 the financial instrument information encoded and/or encrypted in(and/or corresponding to) the QR code, at act 2510.

FIG. 26 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 2600 that can facilitate enhanced, gesture-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

The above discussion explains how various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can utilize gestures as triggering criteria for unlocking(and/or locking, in some cases) the electronic generation and/or displayof QR codes. In various other aspects, however, gesture-basedinformation can be used by the POS device 108 to interpret and/orprocess a QR code generated and/or displayed by the smart device 104. Inother words, a QR code that is generated and/or displayed by the smartdevice 104 can be interpreted differently based upon a physical gestureof the smart device 104 that accompanies the QR code (e.g., based upon aphysical motion of the smart device 104 while the smart device 104 isdisplaying the QR code).

In various embodiments, as shown, the QR code system 102 and/or thesmart device 104 can generate a QR code (e.g., 702) at act 2602.

In various cases, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104 candisplay the QR code to the POS device 108 for scanning and/or reading,at act 2604. In various aspects, while the smart device 104 isdisplaying the QR code, the user of the smart device 104 can perform agesture with the smart device 104 (e.g., a physical motion, tilt, pan,orientation, and/or other movement pattern).

In various instances, the POS device 108 can scan the QR code and candetect the accompanying gesture performed with the smart device 104, atact 2606 (e.g., the POS device 108 can identify the physical motion,tilt, pan, and/or other movement pattern of the smart device 104 viavideo and/or image capturing technology).

In various aspects, the POS device 108 can transmit the QR code and anindication of the accompanying gesture to the payment processing system112, at act 2608.

In various cases, the payment processing system 112 can interpret the QRcode based on the accompanying gesture, at act 2610.

In various instances, the payment processing system 112 can transmit theinterpreted information to the transaction settlement system 802, at act2612.

To clarify the above discussion, consider the following non-limitingexample. Suppose that a generated and/or displayed QR code representsfinancial instrument information. In various cases, any suitablesupplemental information can be conveyed by a physical gesture/motionthat accompanies the QR code. In some examples, a spending cap (e.g., amaximum amount that can be charged in a given transaction using thatfinancial instrument information) can be indicated and/or communicatedbased on the physical gesture/motion that accompanies the QR code (e.g.,a figure-eight motion can indicate a spending cap of $100.00, anX-motion can indicate a spending cap of $50.00, and/or any other motioncan indicate no spending cap). In other examples, a desire for a printedand/or electronic receipt can be indicated and/or communicated based onthe physical gesture/motion that accompanies the QR code (e.g., anup-and-down motion can indicate an electronic receipt, a side-to-sidemotion can indicate a printed receipt, and/or any other motion canindicate no receipt). In still other examples, a desire to make adonation can be indicated and/or communicated based on the physicalgesture/motion that accompanies the QR code (e.g., a side-ways tilt canindicate a donation to a first charity, an upside-down tilt can indicatea donation to a second charity, and/or any other motion/tilt canindicate no donation). As yet other examples, a desire to redeem accruedreward points can be indicated and/or communicated based on the physicalgesture/motion that accompanies the QR code (e.g., a shaking motion canindicate that available rewards points should be redeemed in thetransaction, and/or any other motion can indicate that available rewardspoints should not be redeemed). In various aspects, any other suitabletype of information can be conveyed based upon a physical motion and/orgesture that accompanies a generated and/or displayed QR code (e.g., aQR code paired with a certain gesture can denote certain financialinstrument information, while the QR code paired with a differentgesture can denote different financial instrument information, a QR codepaired with a certain gesture can denote certain a certain geo-locationstamp and/or time stamp, while the QR code paired with a differentgesture can denote a different geo-location stamp and/or time stamp; aQR code paired with a certain gesture can denote certain a product orservice identifier, while the QR code paired with a different gesturecan denote a different product or service identifier; a QR code pairedwith a certain gesture can denote a certain price identifier, while theQR code paired with a different gesture can denote a different priceidentifier; a QR code paired with a certain gesture can denote a certainmerchant identifier, while the QR code paired with a different gesturecan denote a different merchant identifier).

The above discussion explains how various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can utilize biometric data and/or gesture-based data to lockand/or unlock the electronic generation and/or display of QR codes. Invarious aspects, password-protection and/or passcode protection cansimilarly be used as triggering criteria to lock and/or unlockgeneration and/or display of QR codes (e.g., the QR code system 102 canrefrain from generating or displaying QR codes until a required passwordand/or passcode is inputted).

FIG. 27 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 2700 that can facilitate enhanced, privacy-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein. As shown, the system 2700 can, in some cases, comprise the samecomponents as the system 2400, and can further comprise a privacycomponent 2702.

In various embodiments, the privacy component 2702 can receive,retrieve, obtain, store, and/or maintain privacy-based informationregarding the user of the smart device 104. As explained throughout thisdisclosure, various types of information can be encoded, encrypted,and/or embedded into QR codes (e.g., financial instrument information302, context-based information, restriction-based information, and/or soon). In various aspects, privacy-based information (e.g., preferences,contact information, biographical information) can be encoded,encrypted, and/or embedded into QR codes, as well. Thus, in variousaspects, such privacy-based information can be securely, privately,and/or seamlessly communicated to the POS device 108. Such privacy-basedinformation can, in various cases, include any suitable preferenceinformation of the user of the smart device 104 (e.g., productpreferences, service preferences, food preferences, price preferences,media/platform/device preferences, language preferences), any suitablecontact information of the user of the smart device 104 (e.g., phonenumber, email address, residential address), and/or any suitablebiographical information of the user of the smart device 104 (e.g.,birthdate, age, occupation, ethnicity, political affiliation,browsing/purchase history). In various aspects, the privacy component2702 can obtain such privacy-based information from any suitabledatabase and/or data structure which can be electronically accessed bythe privacy component 2702 (e.g., preferences, contact information,and/or biographical information of the user can be stored locally on thesmart device 104; and/or such information can be available fromwebsites, application accounts, and/or online databases). In variousembodiments, any suitable machine learning algorithms and/or techniquescan be implemented to analyze available information regarding the userof the smart device 104 (e.g., to analyze social media accounts of theuser, to analyze mobile application accounts/profiles of the user, toanalyze available online information about the user) and to accordinglyinfer and/or determine such privacy-based information (e.g., the privacycomponent 2702 can scour and/or search through social media accounts ofthe user, mobile application profiles of the user, and/or any othersuitable online and/or electronic information of the user in order toinfer and/or guess such privacy-based information of the user). In somecases, such privacy-based information can be inputted manually by theuser of the smart device 104.

FIG. 28 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method 2800 that can facilitateenhanced, privacy-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein. In various aspects, thecomputer-implemented method 2800 can be facilitated by the system 2700.

In various embodiments, act 2802 can include maintaining, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 2702), preference informationof a user, contact information of the user, or biographical informationof the user. For example, this can include storing product/servicepreferences of the user (e.g., what products and/or services the userprefers to purchase and/or prefers to avoid), food preferences of theuser (e.g., what foods and/or ingredients the user prefers to purchaseand/or prefers to avoid), entertainment preferences of the user (e.g.,what movies, activities, sports, games, and/or music the user prefers topurchase and/or prefers to avoid), price preferences of the user (e.g.,what prices the user prefers to pay and/or prefers to avoid),media/platform/modality preferences (e.g., what computing devices theuser prefers to use/interact with and/or prefers to avoid), and/or anyother suitable preferences of the user. As another example, this caninclude storing telephone numbers of the user (e.g., cell phone, workphone, home phone), email address of the user (e.g., personal emailaddress, work email address), physical address of the user (e.g.,home/residential address, work address), and/or any other suitablecontact information of the user. As yet another example, this caninclude storing birthdate of the user, career/occupation of the user,ethnicity of the user, political affiliations of the user, allergies ofthe user, medical history of the user, purchasing/browsing history ofthe user, transaction histories of the user, and/or any other suitablebiographical information of the user.

In various cases, act 2804 can include generating, by the device (e.g.,120), a quick response (QR) code based on the preference information,the contact information, and/or the biographical information. In variouscases, for example, this can include encoding and/or embedding at leastsome of the user's preferences, contact information, and/or biographicalinformation into the QR code.

In various aspects, act 2806 can include displaying, by the device(e.g., 124 and/or 104), the QR code on an electronic display (e.g.,106). For example, the user's device can display the QR code, and amerchant point-of-sale device can scan the QR code and can decipher thepreference information, the contact information, and/or the biographicalinformation that is encoded within the QR code. In this way, suchpreference information, contact information, and/or biographicalinformation can be securely, privately, and/or seamlessly communicatedto the point-of-sale device.

FIG. 29 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 2900 including preference, contact, and biographicalinformation that can facilitate enhanced, privacy-based QR codegeneration in accordance with one or more embodiments described herein.As shown, the system 2900 can, in some aspects, comprise the samecomponents as the system 2700, and can further comprise preferenceinformation 2902, contact information 2904, and/or biographicalinformation 2906.

In various embodiments, the preference information 2902 can be anysuitable type of preference of the user of the smart device 104, and canbe recited in any suitable way and/or at any suitable level ofgranularity. For example, the preference information 2902 can indicateand/or identify products and/or services that the user prefers topurchase and/or prefers to avoid, foods and/or ingredients that the userprefers to consume and/or prefers to avoid, movies and/or media that theuser prefers to view and/or prefers to avoid, music that the userprefers to listen to and/or prefers to avoid, books/genres that the userprefers to read and/or prefers to avoid, computing devices that the userprefers to use and/or prefers to avoid, and/or any other suitablepreferences.

In various embodiments, the contact information 2904 can be any suitabletype of contact information of the user of the smart device 104, and canbe recited in any suitable way and/or at any suitable level ofgranularity. For example, the contact information 2904 can indicateand/or identify phone numbers associated with the user (e.g., workphone, home phone, cell phone), email address associated with the user(e.g., personal email, work email), physical addresses associated withthe user (e.g., residential address, work address), and/or any othersuitable contact information.

In various embodiments, the biographical information 2906 can be anysuitable type of biographical information of the user of the smartdevice 104, and can be recited in any suitable way and/or at anysuitable level of granularity. For example, the biographical information2906 can indicate and/or identify a birthdate of the user, demographicsof the user (e.g., age, ethnicity, culture), medical history of the user(e.g., known allergies of the user, past medical procedures, currentmedical diagnoses, current medical prognoses, current and/or pastmedical treatment), purchasing/browsing history of the user (e.g.,products recently purchased by the user, searches recently conductedonline by the user), and/or any other suitable biographical information.

As mentioned above, the privacy component 2702 can obtain the preferenceinformation 2902, the contact information 2904, and/or the biographicalinformation 2906 from any suitable database and/or data structure,either online and/or offline. In some cases, the privacy component 2702can receive such information from the user as manual input.

In various aspects, the code generation component 122 can encode,encrypt, and/or embed (and/or otherwise correlate) the preferenceinformation 2902, the contact information 2904, and/or the biographicalinformation 2906 into the QR code 702 (not shown in FIG. 29 for sake ofspace). In this way, the POS device 108 can learn the preferenceinformation 2902, the contact information 2904, and/or the biographicalinformation 2906 upon scanning the QR code 702.

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 can include privacy-basedinformation (e.g., 2902, 2904, 2906) in the QR code 702 in exchange fora reward 2908 from the POS device 108. In various aspects, the reward2908 can be any suitable electronic signal, message, and/or indicationof a promotional offer and/or transactional discount for a currentand/or future transaction (e.g., 10% off a current and/or futuretransaction, buy-one-get-one-free). In various cases, the POS device 108can offer the reward 2908 to the QR code system 102, and the QR codesystem 102 can encode and/or encrypt into the QR code 702 a subset ofthe preference information 2902, a subset of the contact information2904, and/or a subset of the biographical information 2906 based on asize, level, and/or extent of the reward 2908. In other words, the QRcode system 102 can, in some embodiments, divulge and/or share an amountof the preference information 2902 that is commensurate with the reward2908, can divulge and/or share an amount of the contact information 2904that is commensurate with the reward 2908, and/or can divulge and/orshare an amount of the biographical information 2906 that iscommensurate with the reward 2908. In various instances, the user of thesmart device 104 can establish (e.g., as input via any suitableinterface device) settings and/or programming rules that dictate howmuch of the preference information 2902, how much of the contactinformation 2904, and/or how much of the biographical information 2906to encode within the QR code 702 as a function of the reward 2908 (e.g.,as a function of the size of a transactional discount and/or promotionoffered by the POS device 108).

As an example, suppose that the POS device 108 does not offer the reward2908 (e.g., 0% discount). In such case, the QR code system 102 cangenerate the QR code 702 and can refrain from including any of thepreference information 2902, the contact information 2904, and/or thebiographical information 2906 in the QR code 702. In other words,because the POS device 108 does not offer the reward 2908, the QR codesystem 102 has no incentive to divulge and/or share any privacy-basedinformation with the POS device 108. Suppose, however, that the POSdevice 108 does offer the reward 2908, which can be a small discountand/or promotion (e.g., 5% discount). In such case, the QR code system102 can generate the QR code 702 and can include in the QR code 702 asmall amount of the preference information 2902, a small amount of thecontact information 2904, and/or a small amount of the biographicalinformation 2906. In other words, because the POS device 108 offers asmall discount/promotion, the QR code system 102 has an incentive todivulge and/or share a commensurately small amount of privacy-basedinformation with the POS device 108 in order to secure the reward 2908.Suppose, now, that the POS device 108 does offer the reward 2908, whichcan be a large discount and/or promotion (e.g., 20% discount). In suchcase, the QR code system 102 can generate the QR code 702 and caninclude in the QR code 702 a large amount of the preference information2902, a large amount of the contact information 2904, and/or a largeamount of the biographical information 2906. In other words, because thePOS device 108 offers a large discount/promotion, the QR code system 102has an incentive to divulge and/or share a commensurately large amountof privacy-based information with the POS device 108 in order to securethe reward 2908.

Although the above example uses a proportional and/or commensuratescheme to share privacy-based information, this is non-limiting andexemplary. In various cases, any suitable divulgation and/or sharingscheme can be implemented. In various instances, any suitabledivulgation and/or sharing scheme can be specified and/or set by theuser of the smart device 104. In some cases, rather than usingexplicitly programmed divulgation and/or sharing rules, an artificiallyintelligent avatar and/or computerized agent (not shown in FIG. 29) canbe implemented on the smart device 104 to haggle and/or negotiate withthe POS device 108 on behalf of the user of the smart device 104 (e.g.,to haggle and/or negotiate a size of the reward 2908 in exchange for anamount of shared/divulged privacy-based data).

In various aspects, the reward 2908 can be communicated to the smartdevice 104 via the beacon 410 (not shown in FIG. 29 for sake of space).

FIG. 30 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 3000 that can facilitate enhanced, privacy-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

In various embodiments, the POS device 108 can transmit to the QR codesystem 102 and/or the smart device 104 a discount/reward offer (e.g.,2908), at act 3002. In various aspects, this can be via a beacon (e.g.,410).

In various cases, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104 candetermine a subset of preference, contact, and/or biographicalinformation corresponding to the discount/reward offer, and can generateand/or select a QR code (e.g., 702) that corresponds to the determinedsubset of information, at act 3004.

In various aspects, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can display the QR code to the POS device 108 for scanning and/orreading, at act 3006.

In various cases, the POS device 108 can transmit to the paymentprocessing system 112 the QR code, at act 3008. In various instances,the payment processing system 112 can transmit to the transactionsettlement system 802 the subset of preference, contact, and/orbiographical information that is encoded, encrypted, and/or embedded in(and/or otherwise correlated to) the QR code (e.g., can transmit thedetermined subset of privacy-based information that is represented bythe QR code).

The above discussion explains how privacy-based information can beshared and/or divulged to the POS device 108 via QR codes in exchangefor a reward/discount (e.g., 2908). However, in various cases, there canbe other reasons for sharing and/or divulging such privacy-basedinformation. For example, in some instances, sharing such privacy-basedinformation with the POS device 108 (and/or with any other suitablebarcode scanner) can allow the POS device 108 to provide to the smartdevice 104 (and thus to the user of the smart device 104) a filteredand/or customized catalogue and/or menu of products/services that areconsistent with the shared privacy-based information. For instance,suppose that a customer enters a restaurant and displays to a barcodescanner of the restaurant a QR code which indicates that the customer isallergic to shellfish. In various aspects, a computing device of therestaurant can accordingly craft a customized electronic menu for thecustomer which highlights and/or emphasizes non-shellfish meal-options,which lists non-shellfish meal-options before shellfish meal-options,and/or which includes only non-shellfish meal-options (e.g., excludesall shellfish meal-options). As another example, suppose that the QRcode indicates that the customer prefers organic ingredients. In variouscases, a computing device of the restaurant can accordingly craft acustomized electronic menu for the customer which highlights and/oremphasizes organic meal-options, which lists organic meal-options beforenon-organic meal-options, and/or which includes only organicmeal-options (e.g., excludes non-organic meal options). As yet anotherexample, suppose that the QR code indicates that the customer prefers toeat less than 1000 calories in a sitting. In various instances, acomputing device of the restaurant can accordingly craft a customizedelectronic menu for the customer which highlights and/or emphasizesmeals that include fewer than 1000 calories, which lists meals thatinclude fewer than 1000 calories before meals that include more than1000 calories, and/or which includes only meals that include fewer than1000 calories (e.g., excludes meals exceeding 1000 calories). As shown,in various embodiments, the sharing and/or divulgation of privacy-basedinformation to the POS device 108 can allow for the ad hoc and/orcustomized creation and/or filtration of menus and/or catalogs, based onthe unique preferences and/or needs of the user of the smart device 104.

In various embodiments, the amount of preference information 2902,contact information 2904, and/or biographical information 2906 that isshared by the QR code system 102 (e.g., that is encrypted into a QRcode) can be based upon a level of trust and/or a reputation of themerchant facilitating the current transaction. For instance, if themerchant is established and/or has a trustworthy reputation (e.g., fewregistered complaints are associated with the merchant, few publishednegative reviews are associated with the merchant, many publishedpositive reviews are associated with the merchant, few criminalcomplaints and/or criminal records are associated with the merchant, themerchant has no known affiliations with criminal organizations), alarger proportion of the preference information 2902, the contactinformation 2904, and/or the biographical information 2906 can beshared. However, if the merchant instead is not well established and/orhas a poor reputation (e.g., many published negative reviews areassociated with the merchant, few published positive reviews areassociated with the merchant, many criminal complaints and/or criminalrecords are associated with the merchant, the merchant has knownaffiliations with criminal organizations), a smaller proportion of thepreference information 2902, the contact information 2904, and/or thebiographical information 2906 can be shared. In various embodiments, theQR code system 102 can generate a trust score for a merchant that isfacilitating a current transaction by analyzing available informationabout that merchant from the internet. In various instances, the trustscore can be a number (e.g., between 0 and 1, inclusively) thatrepresents a level of trustworthiness of the merchant. In variousaspects, any suitable machine learning, computational, and/ormathematical technique can be used to generate such a trust score as afunction of available online information pertaining to the merchantand/or as a function of prior transaction history with the merchant.That is, any suitable machine learning, computational, and/ormathematical technique (which can be treated as a black box function)can take as input published online reviews and/or articles regarding themerchant, can take as input available criminal records involving themerchant, and/or can take as input a number of prior transactionsbetween the merchant and the user of the smart device 104, and canproduce as output the trust score. In various aspects, the trust scorecan be based on any other suitable input information, such as locationof the transaction (e.g., merchants/transactions located in high-crimeareas can be considered as less trustworthy and/or more suspicious thanmerchants located in low-crime areas), time/date of the transaction(e.g., merchants transacting in the dead of night can be considered asless trustworthy and/or more suspicious than merchants transactingduring daylight hours), products/services involved in the transaction(e.g., merchants providing certain classes/categories/types ofproducts/services can be considered as less trustworthy and/or moresuspicious than merchants providing other classes/categories/types ofproducts/services), and/or monetary amounts involved in the transaction(e.g., transactions involving certain monetary amounts can be consideredas less trustworthy and/or more suspicious than transactions involvingother monetary amounts). In this way, any suitable machine learningmodel/algorithm (which can be considered as a black box function) canreceive as input any suitable information pertaining to a merchantand/or to a transaction, and can generate as output a trust score forthat merchant and/or transaction. If the trust score of a givenmerchant/transaction is higher (e.g., closer to 1), the QR code system102 can encode more of the preference information 2902, more of thecontact information 2904, and/or more of the biographical information2906 into QR codes when transacting with the POS device 108 of thatmerchant. If, on the other hand, the trust score of a givenmerchant/transaction is lower (e.g., closer to 0), the QR code system102 can encode less of the preference information 2902, less of thecontact information 2904, and/or less of the biographical information2906 into QR codes when transacting with the POS device 108 of thatmerchant.

FIG. 31 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 3100 that can facilitate enhanced, persona-based QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein. As shown, the system 3100 can, in various aspects, comprise thesame components as the system 2900, and can further comprise a personacomponent 3102.

In various embodiments, the persona component 3102 can store and/ormaintain a set of electronic personas. In various instances, anelectronic persona can be any suitable electronic profile and/or accountthat respectively lists and/or corresponds to financial instrumentinformation, restriction-based information, biometric-based information,gesture-based information, and/or privacy-based information. In otherwords, each electronic persona can, in various instances, be associatedwith its own unique and/or corresponding set of financial instrumentinformation (e.g., different credit card numbers and/or different bankaccount numbers for different electronic personas), geo-fencingrestrictions (e.g., different authorized and/or unauthorized geographiclocations for different electronic personas), temporal restrictions(e.g., different authorized and/or unauthorized times/dates fordifferent electronic personas), product/service restrictions (e.g.,different authorized and/or unauthorized products and/or services fordifferent electronic personas), value/price restrictions (e.g.,different authorized and/or unauthorized overall and/or itemized pricesfor different electronic personas), merchant identity restrictions(e.g., different authorized and/or unauthorized merchants for differentelectronic personas), authorized biometric signatures (e.g., differentstored fingerprint signatures, different facial images, and/or differentvocal soundbites for different electronic personas), authorized gestures(e.g., different physical motions and/or different movement patterns astriggering criteria for different electronic personas), preferenceinformation (e.g., different preferences for different electronicpersonas), contact information (e.g., different available contactinformation for different electronic personas), and/or biographicalinformation (e.g., different available biographical information fordifferent electronic personas). In various embodiments, the QR codesystem 102 can select and/or identify an electronic persona to beactive, and the QR code system 102 can accordingly generate and/ordisplay QR codes based on the active electronic persona (e.g., can embedinto a QR code the financial instrument information corresponding to theactive electronic persona, can encode into the QR code the variousrestrictions corresponding to the active electronic persona, can encodeinto the QR code the various privacy-based information corresponding tothe active electronic persona). In various cases, the QR code system 102can automatically select and/or identify an electronic persona to beactive based on a context of a current transaction (e.g., a firstelectronic persona can be selected for a transaction taking place at afirst location and/or at a first time/date, involving a firstproduct/service and/or a first price/value, and/or facilitated by afirst merchant; a different electronic persona can be selected for atransaction taking place at a different location and/or at a differenttime/date, involving a different product/service and/or a differentprice/value, and/or facilitated by a different merchant). In some cases,the user of the smart device 104 can manually select (e.g., via anysuitable form of input on any suitable interface device) a persona to beactive.

In various embodiments, each electronic persona can correspond to adifferent user. For example, a family of users can share the smartdevice 104 (and thus the QR code system 102). In various cases, eachmember of the family can have a corresponding electronic persona whichcan list the corresponding financial instrument information of thatfamily member, the corresponding restriction-based information of thatfamily member, the corresponding biometric-based information of thatfamily member, the corresponding gesture-based information of thatfamily member, and/or the corresponding privacy-based information ofthat family member. Accordingly, the smart device 104 can, via the QRcode system 102, generate and display QR codes that correspond to thefamily member currently using the smart device 104. In some cases, thesmart device 104 can automatically detect the identity of the familymember currently using the smart device 104 (e.g., via biometric sensorsand/or passcode verification) and can select and/or identify thecorresponding electronic persona. In various aspects, thepurchasing/transaction histories of each of the electronic personas canbe tracked. In cases where each electronic persona corresponds to adifferent entity/user, this can allow the differentpurchasing/transaction histories of the different entities/users to beindependently recorded.

In some cases, multiple electronic personas can correspond to a singleuser of the smart device 104. In some cases, each persona can listdifferent financial instrument information of the user (e.g., differentcredit card numbers of the user and/or different bank account numbers ofthe user), different restriction-based information of the user,different biometric-based information of the user, differentgesture-based information of the user, and/or different privacy-basedinformation of the user. There can be various purposes for a single userhaving multiple electronic personas. For example, a single user may wantto use different financial instruments in different geographiclocations, at different times/dates, with different products/services,for different monetary amounts, and/or with different merchants. Asanother example, a single user may want to embed different privacyinformation (e.g., preference information, contact information,biographical/demographic information) into QR codes in differenttransaction contexts (e.g., some merchants can be consideredtrustworthy, and thus more privacy information can be embedded into QRcodes when dealing with such merchants; other merchants can beconsidered untrustworthy, and thus less privacy information can beembedded into QR codes when dealing with such merchants). In some cases,the QR code system 102 can identify an appropriate electronic persona tomake active based on a context of a current transaction (e.g., the QRcode system 102 can select an appropriate electronic persona for thecurrent location, for the current time/date, for the currentproduct/service being procured, for the current price/value beingcharged, and/or for the current merchant providing the product/service).In other cases, the personas can be regularly and/or periodicallyrotated and/or changed and/or cycled (e.g., to keep the single user'strue identity hidden from merchants). In various instances, the personascan be randomly rotated and/or changed and/or cycled. In variousembodiments, any other suitable persona rotation/changing scheme can beimplemented. In various embodiments where multiple electronic personascorrespond to a single entity/user, the QR code system 102 can designatethat such multiple electronic personas correspond to the singleentity/user. Accordingly, the QR code system 102 can mark and/or trackall purchases/transactions that use any of the multiple electronicpersonas as purchases/transactions performed by the single entity/user.In this way, purchasing/transaction histories can be recorded and/ortracked across electronic personas (e.g., even if the single entity/useruses different personas for different transactions, it can be determinedthat all the different transactions correspond to the singleentity/user).

FIG. 32 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method 3200 that can facilitateenhanced, persona-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein. In various cases, thecomputer-implemented method 3200 can be implemented by the system 3100.

In various embodiments, act 3202 can include maintaining, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 3102), a set of personasassociated with one or more entities. For example, the personas can allcorrespond to the same user and/or to different users, as explainedabove. Moreover, in various cases, each persona can provide differentinformation about the user(s), such as different financial instrumentinformation; different preference/biographical/contact information;and/or different geographical, temporal, product/service, value/price,and/or merchant identity restriction information.

In various instances, act 3204 can include identifying, by the device(e.g., 3102), one of the personas. For example, a current user of thedevice can be identified via biometric verification, password/passcodeverification, and/or gesture verification, and an appropriate and/orcorresponding person can be identified/activated. As another example, anappropriate persona can be determined based on transaction contextinformation (e.g., different personas for different locations, differenttimes/dates, different products/services, different values/prices,and/or different merchant identifies).

In various aspects, act 3206 can include generating, by the device(e.g., 120), a quick response (QR) code based on the identifies persona.For example, this can include encoding and/or encrypting and/orembedding into the QR code the financial instrument informationcorresponding to the identified persona, the restriction-basedinformation corresponding to the identified persona, and/or thepreference, contact, and/or biographical information corresponding tothe identified persona.

In various cases, act 3208 can include displaying, by the device (e.g.,104 and/or 122), the QR code on an electronic display (e.g., 106). Forinstance, the user's device can display the QR code, and a merchantpoint-of-sale device (e.g., 108) can scan the QR code and can decipherthe financial instrument information, the restriction-based information,and/or preference/contact/biographical information encoded within the QRcode.

FIG. 33 illustrates a high-level block diagram of an example,non-limiting system 3300 including multiple personas that can facilitateenhanced, persona-based QR code generation in accordance with one ormore embodiments described herein.

As shown, the persona component 3102 can, in various cases, comprise aset of N personas, for any suitable integer N. In various aspects, eachpersona (e.g., 1 to N) can have its own corresponding privacy settings(e.g., own preferences, own contact information, own biographicalinformation, own rules for determining how much privacy information toshare/divulge as a function of an offered reward/discount), can have itsown corresponding QR code restrictions (e.g., own geo-fencingrestrictions, own temporal restrictions, own product/servicerestrictions, own value/price restrictions, own merchant identityrestrictions), and/or can have its own corresponding financialinstrument information (e.g., own credit card numbers, own bank accountnumbers). As mentioned above, each of the N personas can, in variousaspects, correspond to a different user of the smart device 104 (e.g.,such as where multiple users share the smart device 104). In variousother aspects, each of the Npersonas can correspond to the same user(e.g., in such case, the same user can desire to have different privacylevels and/or different payment information and/or different paymentrestrictions depending upon transactional circumstances). In variousother cases, any suitable combination of the aforementioned is possible(e.g., some of the N personas can correspond to a same user while othersof the N personas can correspond to different users).

FIG. 34 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 3400 that can facilitate enhanced, persona-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

In various embodiments, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device104 can collect biometric information (e.g., fingerprints of the currentuser, facial images of the current user, voice recordings of the currentuser) and/or transaction context information (e.g., geographic locationof the current transaction, time/date of the current transaction,product/service involved the current transaction, price/value involvedin the current transaction, identity of merchant facilitating thetransaction), at act 3402.

In various cases, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104 canidentify a persona corresponding to the biometric information and/orcorresponding to the transaction context information, and can generateand/or select a QR code (e.g., 702) accordingly based on the identifiedpersona, at act 3404.

In various aspects, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can display to the POS device 108 the QR code for scanning and/orreading, at act 3406.

In various instances, the POS device 108 can transmit to the paymentprocessing system 112 the QR code at act 3408. In various cases, thepayment processing system 112 can transmit to the transaction settlementsystem 802 the persona information encoded in and/or corresponding theQR code (e.g., financial instrument information, restrictioninformation, preferences, biographical information, contactinformation), at act 3410.

FIG. 35 illustrates a high-level communication diagram of an example,non-limiting workflow 3500 that can facilitate enhanced, persona-basedQR code generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

As shown, in various aspects, the POS device 108 can independently tracktransaction context information (e.g., the location of the transaction,the time/date of the transaction, the products/services involved in thetransaction, the values/prices involved in the transaction, and/or theidentity of the merchant facilitating the transaction), at act 3502.

In various cases, the POS device 108 can transmit the transactioncontext information to the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device104 (e.g., such as by the beacon 410), at act 3504.

In various instances, the QR code system 102 and/or the smart device 104can identify a persona corresponding to the transaction contextinformation, and can generate and/or select a QR code (e.g., 702)accordingly based on the transaction context information, at act 3506.

In various cases, as shown, acts 3406-3410 can be as described above.

FIG. 36 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that can facilitate enhanced QRcode generation in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

In various embodiments, act 3602 can include receiving, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 102), a signal from anelectronic beacon (e.g., 410) of a point-of-sale device (e.g., 108). Invarious cases, the signal can include information associated with afirst merchant (e.g., 602).

In various aspects, act 3604 can include identifying, by the device andin response to receiving the signal from the electronic beacon, a quickresponse (QR) code (e.g., 702) from a set of QR codes (e.g., a vaultand/or data structure storing already-generated QR codes) thatcorresponds to the first merchant (e.g., an identifier of the firstmerchant can be embedded and/or encoded into the identified QR code,and/or the identifier QR code can be otherwise mapped and/or correlatedto the first merchant). .

In various instances, act 3606 can include rendering, by the device(e.g., 124 and/or 104) the identified QR code on an electronic display(e.g., 106) that is scannable by the point-of-sale device. In variouscases, scanning the identified QR code can cause the point-of-saledevice to transmit the identified QR code and a merchant identifier(e.g., which can be known/trusted information) of the first merchant toa payment processor (e.g., 112).

In various aspects, act 3608 can include receiving, by the device, atransaction confirmation based on a verification of a transactioncompleted using the identified QR code from the payment processor. Invarious aspects, the verification can be based on determining that theidentified QR code corresponds to the merchant identifier transmitted bythe point-of-sale device.

As shown in FIG. 36, a QR code can correspond to and/or becorrelated/mapped with a particular merchant and/or merchant identifier.Thus, in various cases, a QR code can be deemed valid and/or usable witha particular merchant and can be deemed invalid and/or unusable withother merchants (e.g., the QR code can be bound to the particularmerchant). However, this is non-limiting and exemplary. In variousaspects, QR codes can correspond to and/or be correlated/mapped with anyother suitable information (e.g., geo-location stamps, time stamps,product or service identifiers, price identifiers, restriction-basedinformation).

In various embodiments, the identified QR code can be correlated to afirst geographic range. In various cases, the point-of-sale device canfurther transmit an identifier for the first geographic range to thepayment processor. In various instances, the verification by the paymentprocessor can be further based on determining that the identified QRcode corresponds to the first geographic range. Thus, in variousaspects, a QR code can correspond to and/or be correlated/mapped with aparticular geo-location and/or set of geo-locations, such that the QRcode is deemed valid and/or usable at the particular geo-location and/orset of geo-locations and is deemed invalid and/or unusable at differentgeo-locations and/or sets of geo-locations. In other words, the QR codecan be bound to the particular geo-location and/or set of geo-locations.

In various embodiments, the identified QR code can be correlated to afirst temporal window. In various cases, the point-of-sale device canfurther transmit an identifier for the first temporal window to thepayment processor. In various instances, the verification by the paymentprocessor can be further based on determining that the identified QRcode corresponds to the first temporal window. Thus, in various aspects,a QR code can correspond to and/or be correlated/mapped with aparticular time/date and/or set of times/dates, such that the QR code isdeemed valid and/or usable at the particular time/date and/or set oftimes/dates and is deemed invalid and/or unusable at differenttimes/dates and/or sets of times/dates. In other words, the QR code canbe bound to the particular time/date and/or set of times/dates.

In various embodiments, the identified QR code can be correlated to afirst product or service. In various cases, the point-of-sale device canfurther transmit an identifier for the first product or service to thepayment processor. In various instances, the verification by the paymentprocessor can be further based on determining that the identified QRcode corresponds to the first product or service. Thus, in variousaspects, a QR code can correspond to and/or be correlated/mapped with aparticular product/service and/or set of products/services, such thatthe QR code is deemed valid and/or usable for the particularproduct/service and/or set of products/services and is deemed invalidand/or unusable for different products/services and/or sets ofproducts/services. In other words, the QR code can be bound to theparticular product/service and/or set of products/services.

In various embodiments, the identified QR code can be correlated to afirst transaction amount. In various cases, the point-of-sale device canfurther transmit an identifier for the first transaction amount to thepayment processor. In various instances, the verification by the paymentprocessor can be further based on determining that the identified QRcode corresponds to the first transaction amount. Thus, in variousaspects, a QR code can correspond to and/or be correlated/mapped with aparticular transaction amount and/or set of transaction amounts, suchthat the QR code is deemed valid and/or usable for the particulartransaction amount and/or set of transaction amounts and is deemedinvalid and/or unusable for different transaction amounts and/or sets oftransaction amounts. In other words, the QR code can be bound to theparticular transaction amounts and/or set of transaction amounts.

In various embodiments, the computer-implemented method 3600 can furtherinclude: detecting, by the device (e.g., 2202), a first motion (e.g., adetected gesture performed with the smart device 104) via anaccelerometer (e.g., 2404) coupled to the device. In various cases, thecomputer-implemented method 3600 can further include determining, by thedevice, that the first motion corresponds to a first transaction amount.In various aspects, the computer-implemented method 3600 can furtherinclude correlating, by the device (e.g., 122), the identified QR codeto the first transaction amount. In other words, various embodiments ofthe subject innovation can involve implementing gestures/motionsperformed with the smart device 104 as triggering criteria to generate,select, and/or display QR codes. In various cases, differentgestures/motions can correspond to different transaction amounts and/ortransaction amount restrictions. Thus, when a particular gesture/motionthat is correlated with a particular transaction amount is performed,embodiments of the subject innovation can generate and display (and/orcan select from a QR code vault and display) a QR code that correspondsto the particular transaction amount. For example, suppose that afigure-eight motion performed with the smart device 104 corresponds to atransaction spending cap of $100. If the figure-eight motion isperformed with the smart device 104, the smart device 104 can generate(and/or can select from a QR code vault) a QR code that likewisecorresponds to the $100 transaction spending cap. Such a QR code can bedeemed valid and/or usable for transaction amounts up to $100, and canbe deemed invalid and/or unusable for transaction amounts exceeding$100. In other words, different QR codes can be bound to differenttransaction amounts/prices/values, and such different QR codes can beselected by the user of the smart device 104 by performing appropriatephysical gestures/motions with the smart device 104.

In various embodiments, the computer-implemented method 3600 can furtherinclude: detecting, by the device (e.g., 2202), a first motion (e.g., adetected gesture performed with the smart device 104) via anaccelerometer (e.g., 2404) coupled to the device. In various cases, thecomputer-implemented method 3600 can further include determining, by thedevice, that the first motion corresponds to a first product or service.In various aspects, the computer-implemented method 3600 can furtherinclude correlating, by the device (e.g., 122), the identified QR codeto the first product or service. In other words, various embodiments ofthe subject innovation can involve implementing gestures/motionsperformed with the smart device 104 as triggering criteria to generate,select, and/or display QR codes. In various cases, differentgestures/motions can correspond to different products/services and/or todifferent product/service restrictions. Thus, when a particulargesture/motion that is correlated with a particular product/service isperformed, embodiments of the subject innovation can generate anddisplay (and/or can select from a QR code vault and display) a QR codethat corresponds to the particular product/service. For example, supposethat a clockwise circular motion performed with the smart device 104corresponds to fruits. If the clockwise circular motion is performedwith the smart device 104, the smart device 104 can generate (and/or canselect from a QR code vault) a QR code that likewise corresponds tofruits. Such a QR code can be deemed valid and/or usable for purchasingfruits, and can be deemed invalid and/or unusable for purchasingproducts/services other than fruits. In other words, different QR codescan be bound to different products/services, and such different QR codescan be selected by the user of the smart device 104 by performingappropriate physical gestures/motions with the smart device 104.

In various embodiments, the computer-implemented method 3600 can furtherinclude: detecting, by the device (e.g., 2202), a first motion (e.g., adetected gesture performed with the smart device 104) via anaccelerometer (e.g., 2404) coupled to the device. In various cases, thecomputer-implemented method 3600 can further include determining, by thedevice, that the first motion corresponds to a first financialinstrument. In various aspects, the computer-implemented method 3600 canfurther include correlating, by the device (e.g., 122), the identifiedQR code to the first financial instrument. In other words, variousembodiments of the subject innovation can involve implementinggestures/motions performed with the smart device 104 as triggeringcriteria to generate, select, and/or display QR codes. In various cases,different gestures/motions can correspond to different financialinstruments. Thus, when a particular gesture/motion that is correlatedwith a particular financial instrument is performed, embodiments of thesubject innovation can generate and display (and/or can select from a QRcode vault and display) a QR code that corresponds to the particularfinancial instrument. For example, suppose that a counter-clockwisecircular motion performed with the smart device 104 corresponds to acredit card xyz. If the counter-clockwise circular motion is performedwith the smart device 104, the smart device 104 can generate (and/or canselect from a QR code vault) a QR code that likewise corresponds to thecredit card xyz. Such a QR code can include and/or represent the paymentinformation associated with the credit card xyz, and can exclude and/ornot represent payment information associated with a different creditcard. In other words, different QR codes can be bound to differentfinancial instruments, and such different QR codes can be selected bythe user of the smart device 104 by performing appropriate physicalgestures/motions with the smart device 104.

FIG. 37 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that can facilitate enhanced QRcode processing in accordance with one or more embodiments describedherein.

In various embodiments, act 3702 can include receiving, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 112), a quick response (QR)code (e.g., 702) from a point-of-sale device (e.g., 108). In some cases,the QR code can correspond to a first merchant identifier (e.g., 602).

In various instances, act 3704 can include receiving, by the device(e.g., 112), a second merchant identifier (e.g., known/trustedinformation) from the point-of-sale device.

In various aspects, act 3706 can include determining, by the device(e.g., 112), whether the first merchant identifier matches and/orcorresponds to the second merchant identifier.

In various instances, act 3708 can include processing, by the device(e.g., 112), financial instrument data (e.g., 302) embedded within theQR code based on determining that the first merchant identifier matchesand/or corresponds to the second merchant identifier.

Although FIG. 37 shows that merchant identifiers can be embedded withinand/or correlated to a QR code for transaction verification, this isnon-limiting and exemplary. In various aspects, any other suitableinformation can be embedded within and/or correlated with the QR code(e.g., geo-location stamps, time stamps, product or service identifiers,price identifiers, restriction-based information).

In various embodiments, the QR code can further correspond to and/or becorrelated with accelerometer data (e.g., produced by the accelerometer2404). In various cases, the accelerometer data can indicate a firsttime at which a detected motion occurs, where the detected motioncorresponds to a presentation of an electronic display rendering the QRcode to the point-of-sale device (e.g., the accelerometer 2404 and theclock 408 can collectively detect a time at which a movement patternoccurs, where the movement pattern is consistent with a user of thesmart device 104 presenting the display 106 of the smart device 104 tothe scanner 110 of the POS device 108). In some instances, thecomputer-implemented method 3700 can further include receiving, by thedevice, a time stamp from the point-of-sale device. In various cases,the time stamp can correspond to a second time at which thepoint-of-sale device scans the QR code. In various aspects, thecomputer-implemented method 3700 can further include determining, by thedevice, whether the accelerometer data corresponds to and/or isconsistent with the time stamp. In various instances, thecomputer-implemented method 3700 can further include processing, by thedevice, the financial instrument data embedded within the QR code basedon determining that the accelerometer data corresponds to the timestamp.

In various embodiments, the QR code can further correspond to and/or becorrelated with global positioning data (e.g., produced by the GPS 406).In various cases, the global positioning data can indicate a firstgeo-location at which a detected motion occurs, where the detectedmotion corresponds to a presentation of an electronic display renderingthe QR code to the point-of-sale device (e.g., the accelerometer 2404and the GPS 406 can collectively detect a geo-location at which amovement pattern occurs, where the movement pattern is consistent with auser of the smart device 104 presenting the display 106 of the smartdevice 104 to the scanner 110 of the POS device 108). In some instances,the computer-implemented method 3700 can further include receiving, bythe device, a geo-location stamp from the point-of-sale device. Invarious cases, the geo-location stamp can correspond to a secondgeo-location at which the point-of-sale device scans the QR code. Invarious aspects, the computer-implemented method 3700 can furtherinclude determining, by the device, whether the global positioning datacorresponds to and/or is consistent with the geo-location stamp. Invarious instances, the computer-implemented method 3700 can furtherinclude processing, by the device, the financial instrument dataembedded within the QR code based on determining that the globalpositioning data corresponds to the geo-location stamp.

In various embodiments, the QR code can further correspond to and/or becorrelated with a first product or service identifier (e.g., 502). Insome instances, the computer-implemented method 3700 can further includereceiving, by the device, a second product or service identifier fromthe point-of-sale device. In various aspects, the computer-implementedmethod 3700 can further include determining, by the device, whether thefirst product or service identifier corresponds to and/or is consistentwith the second product or service identifier. In various instances, thecomputer-implemented method 3700 can further include processing, by thedevice, the financial instrument data embedded within the QR code basedon determining that the first product or service identifier correspondsto and/or is consistent with the second product or service identifier.

FIG. 38 illustrates a high-level flow diagram of an example,non-limiting computer-implemented method that can facilitate enhanced,persona-based QR code in accordance with one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

In various embodiments, act 3802 can include storing, by a deviceoperatively coupled to a processor (e.g., 3100), a plurality ofelectronic personas (e.g., 1 to N). In various aspects, each electronicpersona in the plurality of electronic personas can contain datagoverning electronic generation of quick response (QR) codes. In variouscases, the plurality of electronic personas can respectively correspondto a plurality of privacy levels, such that each electronic personacorresponds to a different privacy level.

In various instances, act 3804 can include, in response to a request togenerate a QR code, identifying, by the device (e.g., 3100), a firstelectronic persona from the plurality of electronic personas. In variouscases, the first electronic persona can correspond to a first privacylevel in the plurality of privacy levels.

In various aspects, act 3806 can include generating, by the device(e.g.,. 122), the QR code based on the first electronic persona. Invarious cases, information embedded within the QR code can correspond tothe first privacy level.

In various instances, act 3808 can include rendering, by the device(e.g., 124 and/or 104), the QR code on an electronic display (e.g., 106)of the device.

In various embodiments, the identifying the first electronic persona ofact 3804 can be based on detecting a selection of the first electronicpersona by a user of the device via a user interface on the device,wherein the user interface provides one or more user interface elementscorresponding to one or more of the plurality of electronic personas. Invarious cases, any suitable user interface device (e.g., keyboard,keypad, joysticks, mouse, remote controller, touchscreen, voice control)can be implemented to allow a user of the device to provide manual inputand/or selections (e.g., to select a desired electronic persona from alist of available electronic personas).

In various embodiments, the identifying the first electronic persona canbe based on detecting information associated with a transaction (e.g.,context-based information detected by 120). In some cases, theinformation associated with the transaction can be a geo-location of thetransaction (e.g., 402), a time of the transaction (e.g., 404), aproduct or service involved in the transaction (e.g., 502), a monetaryamount of the transaction (e.g., 504), and/or an identity of a merchantinvolved in the transaction (e.g., 602). In other words, variousembodiments of the subject innovation can automatically select anapplicable and/or suitable electronic persona based on the context of acurrent transaction (e.g., different personas can be bound to differenttransaction contexts). As described above, such information regardingthe transaction can be detected by an electronic beacon at apoint-of-sale device or via any other suitable technique.

In various embodiments, the identifying the first electronic persona canbe based on biometric identification of a user of the device (e.g., via1802). That is, in various cases, different electronic personas can beassociated with different users. So, biometric verification can be usedto identify the current user, and an appropriate/suitable electronicpersona corresponding to the biometrically identified user can beselected.

In various embodiments, the identifying the first electronic persona canbe based on detecting a physical gesture of a user operating the device(e.g., via 2202). That is, in various cases, different electronicpersonas can be triggered and/or selected by performing differentphysical gestures/motions/manipulations with the device (e.g., 104). Forinstance, an X-shaped motion can trigger and/or select a firstelectronic persona, a figure-eight-shaped motion can trigger and/orselect a second electronic persona, an up-and-down motion can triggerand/or select a third electronic persona, a side-to-side motion cantrigger and/or select a fourth electronic persona, and so on.

In various embodiments, the first electronic persona can correspond toone or more first transaction restrictions (e.g., 1202, 1204, 1302,1304, 1402). In various cases, the one or more first transactionrestrictions can be different from one or more second transactionrestrictions corresponding to a second electronic persona in theplurality of electronic personas. That is, in various instances,different electronic personas can be associated with differentrestriction-based information (e.g., a certain persona can be utilizedonly in certain geo-locations, only at certain times, only with certainproducts/services, only for certain monetary amounts, and/or only withcertain merchants).

In various embodiments, the first electronic persona can correspond tofirst preference data (e.g., 2902), contact data (e.g., 2904), ordemographic data (e.g., 2906) that corresponds to the first privacylevel. In various cases, the first preference data, contact data, ordemographic data can be embedded within the QR code. In various cases,the first preference data, contact data, or demographic data can bedifferent from second preference data, contact data, or demographic datathat corresponds to a second privacy level of a second electronicpersona in the plurality of electronic personas. That is, in variousinstances, different personas can contain different amounts of personalinformation of a user, so that the user can have different secrecyand/or privacy levels when engaging in different transactions. Forexample, when engaging in a certain transaction, an electronic personahaving a high privacy level can be used (e.g., when the merchant is nottrustworthy), such that little and/or no preference information of theuser, contact information of the user, and/or demographic information ofthe user is embedded within the QR code. Thus, when this electronicpersona having a high privacy level is used, little and/or no personalinformation of the user can be shared with the point-of-sale device withwhich the user is transacting. On the other hand, a different electronicpersona having a low privacy level can be used (e.g., when the merchantis trustworthy), such that much and/or all preference information of theuser, contact information of the user, and/or demographic information ofthe user can be shared with the point-of-sale device with which the useris transacting. Thus, in various embodiments, the user can establishdifferent electronic personas having different privacy levels and/orprivacy settings for different contexts and/or transactions.

In various instances, embodiments of the subject innovation can includeautomatically updating electronic personas based on user activity. Forinstance, in various aspects, a machine learning model (e.g., atrainable function as described herein) can receive as input anysuitable information related to a user (e.g., transaction/purchasehistory of the user, online shopping carts associated with the user,online wish lists associated with the user, online product/servicereviews written by the user, online social media accounts associatedwith the user, any other information associated with the user'sbehavior, and/or so on) and can update/change, as output, settings ofone or more electronic personas associated with the user (e.g., canincrease/decrease an amount of privacy-based information that isavailable to be shared by one or more electronic personas, can changethe content of the privacy-based information that is associated with oneor more electronic personas, can change the content of transactionrestrictions that are associated with one or more electronic personas,can change the content of biometric and/or gesture-based triggeringcriteria that are associated with one or more electronic personas,and/or so on). In various embodiments, a set of default electronicpersonas can be created (e.g., a first default electronic persona thatis created for members of a first group, a second default electronicpersona that is created for members of a second group, and/or so on). Invarious aspects, the default personas can be updated and/or customizedbased on specific user usage/behavior, as described above (e.g., a usercan receive a default electronic persona to begin with, and theelectronic persona can be automatically tailored to the user based onthe user's activity and/or behavior over time). In various instances,users can manually update/customize their associated electronic personasvia manual input.

In various embodiments, automatic updates to the electronic personas ofa given user can be made and/or recommended based on updates and/orcustomizations performed by other/different users. For example, invarious aspects, one or more users that are similar to a given user canbe identified via any suitable technique (e.g., via a similarityalgorithm, such as collaborative filtering, that can compareprofile/persona characteristics, preferences, demographics, transactionhistories, QR code restrictions, and/or so on in order to determinewhether the one or more users are similar to the given user). In variousinstances, when the one or more users make updates, changes, and/orcustomizations to their electronic personas, various embodiments of thesubject innovation can recommend and/or suggest such updates, changes,and/or customizations to the given user. For instance, suppose that asimilarity algorithm (e.g., which can be based on artificialintelligence) compares the preferences, demographics, transactionhistories, and/or QR code restrictions of user A with the preferences,demographics, transaction histories, and/or QR code restrictions of userB and determines that user A is similar to user B (e.g., determines thatthe preferences, demographics, transaction histories, and/or QR coderestrictions of user A differ from those of user B by no more than apredetermined margin). In such case, if user A approves/authorizes oneor more changes to one or more of his/her electronic personas, variousembodiments of the subject innovation can recommend/suggest that thesame and/or similar changes be made to one or more of the electronicpersonas of user B. In some cases, various embodiments of the subjectinnovation can automatically perform such changes to the one or moreelectronic personas of user B.

In various embodiments of the subject innovation, the QR code system 102(e.g., the code generation component 122) can encode, encrypt, and/orembed within an electronically generated and/or displayed QR code adigital watermark. In various aspects, a digital watermark can be anysuitable marker, symbol, token, and/or visual pattern that can be hiddenwithin a QR code and that can be used to verify the authenticity and/orintegrity of the QR code. In various cases, any suitable digitalwatermarking techniques can be implemented so that the digital watermarkcan be included in an original electronic display and/or image of a QRcode and/or so that the digital watermark can be not included in acopied and/or screen-captured electronic display and/or image of the QRcode. For example, the POS device 108 can expect to detect (e.g., viaany suitable decryption technique) a digital watermark in the QR code702 as electronically displayed by the smart device 104. If the POSdevice 108 does detect such a digital watermark in the QR code 702 aselectronically displayed by the smart device 104, the POS device 108 candetermine that the QR code 702 is valid and/or that the smart device 104authentically generated the QR code 702. If, however, the POS device 108does not detect such a digital watermark in the QR code 702 aselectronically displayed by the smart device 104, the POS device 108 candetermine that the QR code 702 is invalid and/or that the smart device104 did not authentically generate the QR code 702 (e.g., in such case,it is possible that the smart device 104 screen-captured the QR code 702from its true owner). In this way, digital watermarks can beincorporated into QR codes to improve safety, security, and/or privacyof transactions.

As described throughout, various embodiments of the subject innovationcan electronically generate enhanced and/or enriched QR codes inreal-time in order to facilitate a current transaction between abuyer/customer (e.g., the user of the smart device 104) and aseller/merchant. In various aspects, embodiments of the subjectinnovation can electronically generate such QR codes ahead of timeand/or prior to the initiation of a current transaction. Specifically,in some cases, embodiments of the subject innovation can employ anysuitable machine learning model/algorithm that can receive specifiedinput information pertaining to the user of the smart device 104 andthat can produce as output a prediction and/or inference indicating afuture transaction that is likely to be initiated by the user of thesmart device 104. In various aspects, embodiments of the subjectinnovation can electronically generate a QR code based on the predictedand/or inferred future transaction. In various instances, the machinelearning model/algorithm can receive as input any suitable informationregarding the user of the smart device 104, such as product/servicepreferences of the user of the smart device 104 (e.g., the preferenceinformation 2902), purchase history and/or transaction history and/orbrowsing history of the user of the smart device 104 (e.g., thebiographical information 2906), social media posts and/or social mediaaccounts associated with the user of the smart device 104, onlineshopping carts associated with the user of the smart device 104, and/orany other suitable information pertaining to the user of the smartdevice 104. As mentioned above, based on such input data, the machinelearning model/algorithm can predict and/or infer a future transactionthat is likely to be engaged in by the user of the smart device 104(e.g., can predict and/or infer a merchant that the user of the smartdevice 104 is likely to visit, can predict and/or infer a geo-locationof the merchant, can predict and/or infer a time/date on which the userof the smart device 104 is likely to visit the merchant, can predictand/or infer a product/service that the user of the smart device islikely to purchase from the merchant, and/or can predict and/or infer aprice that the user of the smart device 104 is likely to pay to themerchant). In various aspects, an appropriate QR code can beelectronically generated based on such predicted and/or inferredinformation (e.g., the QR code can be generated ahead of time so as torepresent an identifier of the predicted/inferred merchant, so as torepresent an indication of the predicted/inferred geo-location, so as torepresent an indication of the predicted/inferred time/date, so as torepresent an indication of the predicted/inferred product/service,and/or so as to represent an indication of the predicted/inferredprice). In this way, machine learning and/or artificial intelligence canbe leveraged to predict future transactions that are likely to occur andto preemptively generate and/or queue up QR codes for those futuretransactions. In some cases, embodiments of the subject innovation cangenerate a trust score, as described above, for the predicted/inferredfuture transaction, and can accordingly encode and/or embed within thegenerated and/or queued up QR codes preferences, contact information,and/or demographic/biographical information corresponding to and/orbased on the trust score.

As described throughout, various embodiments of the subject innovationcan electronically generate enhanced and/or enriched QR codes based onmyriad types of information (e.g., the QR code system 102 can generatein real-time QR codes that contain, represent, symbolize, and/orotherwise correspond/correlate to financial instrument information,transaction context information, restriction-based information, and/orprivacy-based information). In various other embodiments, however, a setof already-generated and/or already-prepared QR codes can be storedwithin a QR code vault (not shown in the figures). In such case, ratherthan generating in real-time QR codes, the QR code system 102 can, insome cases, select in real-time an already-generated QR code based onany suitable information (e.g., based on transaction context, based onbiometric verification, and/or based on gesture activation). That is, insome cases, each already-generated QR code can correspond to and/or betriggered by a respective transaction context, a respective biometricidentification, and/or a respective physical gesture/motion (e.g., asdetermined and/or inferred through the GPS 406, the clock 408, thecamera 506, the beacon 410, the fingerprint scanner 2008, the microphone2010, the accelerometer 2404, and/or and so on). So, in variousinstances, the QR code system 102 can determine, infer, and/or learn atransaction context, biometric identification, and/or physicalgesture/motion as explained above, and can select and/or identify asuitable and/or corresponding QR code from the QR code vault based onthe transaction context, biometric identification, and/or physicalgesture/motion. The selected and/or identified QR code can then bedisplayed.

As described throughout, electronically generated and/or displayed QRcodes can be optical bar codes of any suitable shape, any suitabledimensionality, and/or any suitable colors and/or combinations ofcolors. However, in various aspects, an electronically generated and/ordisplayed QR code can be any other suitable symbol and/or combination ofsymbols that can be used to cryptographically and/or secretly conveyinformation. For example, in some cases, as explained above, anelectronically generated QR code can be a matrix barcode. In othercases, however, an electronically generated QR code can comprise anyother suitable symbols and/or images, such as emoticons, thumbnails,and/or so on. In other words, although the utility and/or functionalityof a QR code can be achieved via a grid and/or matrix of black/whitesquares, such utility and/or functionality can also be achieved, in somecases, via any suitable visual images and/or symbols that can be deemedto correspond (such as by a crypto key) to particular meanings and/or toparticular information.

As explained throughout, electronically generated and/or displayed QRcodes can be implemented during transactional checkout procedures tofacilitate payment for the provision of products/services. However, insome cases, electronically generated and/or displayed QR codes can beimplemented during transactional check-in procedures, as well. Forexample, electronically generated and/or displayed QR codes can be usedby customers to automatically check-in to restaurants without having tophysically interact with a host/hostess and/or without having tophysically wait in and/or physically enter the restaurant at all. Insuch cases, an electronically generated and/or displayed QR code canrepresent identification information of a group of customers that wishesto dine in a restaurant, a number of customers in the group, and/orfood/menu preferences of the customers in the group, and the QR code canbe presented to a QR code scanner that is outside of the restaurant.Upon scanning, the QR code scanner be informed of the identificationinformation of the group, the number of customers in the group, and/orthe preferences of the group. Accordingly, the group can beautomatically included in a queue that is waiting to be seated at therestaurant.

As explained throughout, QR codes can be electronically generated and/ordisplayed in real-time in various embodiments of the subject innovation.In various aspects, as described herein, such QR codes can be based uponelectronic signals received by a beacon that is at or near the POSdevice 108. Indeed, as explained above, the beacon 410 can, in somecases, communicate various types of information to the QR code system102, such as geo-location of a transaction, time/date of a transaction,products/services involved in a transaction, prices/values involved in atransaction, and/or identifiers of the merchant facilitating thetransaction. In various aspects, as mentioned above, such informationcan be embedded and/or incorporated into a QR code (e.g., such thattransaction context information is communicated and/or represented bythe QR code). In other embodiments, however, as mentioned above, a setof already-generated QR codes can be stored and/or maintained within aQR code vault. In such cases, each QR code in the set ofalready-generated QR codes can be dedicated to particular transactioncontexts (e.g., bound to particular locations, bound to particulartimes/dates, bound to particular products/services, bound to particularprices/values, bound to particular merchants). So, in various cases, asuitable and/or corresponding QR code can be automatically selected fromthe QR code vault based on the transaction context information providedby the beacon 410. In such cases, the beacon 410 can be considered asqueuing up the selected QR code and/or queuing up the transaction on thesmart device 104. In other words, rather than requiring the user of thesmart device 104 to manually select which QR code in the QR code vaultto use for a given transaction, the QR code system 102 can automaticallyselect an appropriate QR code as a function of the context informationthat is provided by the beacon 410.

In various aspects described above, embodiments of the subjectinnovation can involve receiving manual input from the user of the smartdevice 104. In various cases, such manual input can be facilitated byany suitable human-interface apparatus (e.g., buttons, keyboard, keypad,touchscreen, voice command, motion-based commands, and/or so on). Thatis, various embodiments of the subject innovation can include anysuitable graphical user interfaces, application programming interfaces,and/or human-interface devices.

In various instances, machine learning algorithms and/or models can beimplemented in any suitable way to facilitate any suitable aspectsdescribed herein. To facilitate some of the above-described machinelearning aspects of various embodiments of the subject innovation,consider the following discussion of artificial intelligence (AI).Various embodiments of the present innovation herein can employartificial intelligence to facilitate automating one or more features ofthe present innovation. The components can employ various AI-basedschemes for carrying out various embodiments/examples disclosed herein.In order to provide for or aid in the numerous determinations (e.g.,determine, ascertain, infer, calculate, predict, prognose, estimate,derive, forecast, detect, compute) of the present innovation, componentsof the present innovation can examine the entirety or a subset of thedata to which it is granted access and can provide for reasoning aboutor determine states of the system and/or environment from a set ofobservations as captured via events and/or data. Determinations can beemployed to identify a specific context or action, or can generate aprobability distribution over states, for example. The determinationscan be probabilistic; that is, the computation of a probabilitydistribution over states of interest based on a consideration of dataand events. Determinations can also refer to techniques employed forcomposing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data.

Such determinations can result in the construction of new events oractions from a set of observed events and/or stored event data, whetheror not the events are correlated in close temporal proximity, andwhether the events and data come from one or several event and datasources. Components disclosed herein can employ various classification(explicitly trained (e.g., via training data) as well as implicitlytrained (e.g., via observing behavior, preferences, historicalinformation, receiving extrinsic information, and so on)) schemes and/orsystems (e.g., support vector machines, neural networks, expert systems,Bayesian belief networks, fuzzy logic, data fusion engines, and so on)in connection with performing automatic and/or determined action inconnection with the claimed subject matter. Thus, classification schemesand/or systems can be used to automatically learn and perform a numberof functions, actions, and/or determinations.

A classifier can map an input attribute vector, z=(z₁, z₂, z₃, z₄,z_(n)), to a confidence that the input belongs to a class, as byf(z)=confidence(class). Such classification can employ a probabilisticand/or statistical-based analysis (e.g., factoring into the analysisutilities and costs) to determinate an action to be automaticallyperformed. A support vector machine (SVM) can be an example of aclassifier that can be employed. The SVM operates by finding ahyper-surface in the space of possible inputs, where the hyper-surfaceattempts to split the triggering criteria from the non-triggeringevents. Intuitively, this makes the classification correct for testingdata that is near, but not identical to training data. Other directedand undirected model classification approaches include, e.g., naïveBayes, Bayesian networks, decision trees, neural networks, fuzzy logicmodels, and/or probabilistic classification models providing differentpatterns of independence, any of which can be employed. Classificationas used herein also is inclusive of statistical regression that isutilized to develop models of priority.

In order to provide additional context for various embodiments describedherein, FIG. 39 and the following discussion are intended to provide abrief, general description of a suitable computing environment 3900 inwhich the various embodiments of the embodiment described herein can beimplemented. While the embodiments have been described above in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions that can run on oneor more computers, those skilled in the art will recognize that theembodiments can be also implemented in combination with other programmodules and/or as a combination of hardware and software.

Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, datastructures, etc., that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the inventive methods can be practiced with other computer systemconfigurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor computersystems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, Internet of Things (IoT)devices, distributed computing systems, as well as personal computers,hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, and the like, each of which can be operativelycoupled to one or more associated devices.

The illustrated embodiments of the embodiments herein can be alsopracticed in distributed computing environments where certain tasks areperformed by remote processing devices that are linked through acommunications network. In a distributed computing environment, programmodules can be located in both local and remote memory storage devices.

Computing devices typically include a variety of media, which caninclude computer-readable storage media, machine-readable storage media,and/or communications media, which two terms are used herein differentlyfrom one another as follows. Computer-readable storage media ormachine-readable storage media can be any available storage media thatcan be accessed by the computer and includes both volatile andnonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example,and not limitation, computer-readable storage media or machine-readablestorage media can be implemented in connection with any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readable ormachine-readable instructions, program modules, structured data orunstructured data.

Computer-readable storage media can include, but are not limited to,random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM), digitalversatile disk (DVD), Blu-ray disc (BD) or other optical disk storage,magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or othermagnetic storage devices, solid state drives or other solid statestorage devices, or other tangible and/or non-transitory media which canbe used to store desired information. In this regard, the terms“tangible” or “non-transitory” herein as applied to storage, memory orcomputer-readable media, are to be understood to exclude onlypropagating transitory signals per se as modifiers and do not relinquishrights to all standard storage, memory or computer-readable media thatare not only propagating transitory signals per se.

Computer-readable storage media can be accessed by one or more local orremote computing devices, e.g., via access requests, queries or otherdata retrieval protocols, for a variety of operations with respect tothe information stored by the medium.

Communications media typically embody computer-readable instructions,data structures, program modules or other structured or unstructureddata in a data signal such as a modulated data signal, e.g., a carrierwave or other transport mechanism, and includes any information deliveryor transport media. The term “modulated data signal” or signals refersto a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changedin such a manner as to encode information in one or more signals. By wayof example, and not limitation, communication media include wired media,such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless mediasuch as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media.

With reference again to FIG. 39, the example environment 3900 forimplementing various embodiments of the aspects described hereinincludes a computer 3902, the computer 3902 including a processing unit3904, a system memory 3906 and a system bus 3908. The system bus 3908couples system components including, but not limited to, the systemmemory 3906 to the processing unit 3904. The processing unit 3904 can beany of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessorsand other multi-processor architectures can also be employed as theprocessing unit 3904.

The system bus 3908 can be any of several types of bus structure thatcan further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memorycontroller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety ofcommercially available bus architectures. The system memory 3906includes ROM 3910 and RAM 3912. A basic input/output system (BIOS) canbe stored in a non-volatile memory such as ROM, erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), EEPROM, which BIOS contains the basic routinesthat help to transfer information between elements within the computer3902, such as during startup. The RAM 3912 can also include a high-speedRAM such as static RAM for caching data.

The computer 3902 further includes an internal hard disk drive (HDD)3914 (e.g., EIDE, SATA), one or more external storage devices 3916(e.g., a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 3916, a memory stick or flashdrive reader, a memory card reader, etc.) and a drive 3920, e.g., suchas a solid state drive, an optical disk drive, which can read or writefrom a disk 3922, such as a CD-ROM disc, a DVD, a BD, etc.Alternatively, where a solid state drive is involved, disk 3922 wouldnot be included, unless separate. While the internal HDD 3914 isillustrated as located within the computer 3902, the internal HDD 3914can also be configured for external use in a suitable chassis (notshown). Additionally, while not shown in environment 3900, a solid statedrive (SSD) could be used in addition to, or in place of, an HDD 3914.The HDD 3914, external storage device(s) 3916 and drive 3920 can beconnected to the system bus 3908 by an HDD interface 3924, an externalstorage interface 3926 and a drive interface 3928, respectively. Theinterface 3924 for external drive implementations can include at leastone or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and Institute of Electricaland Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 interface technologies. Otherexternal drive connection technologies are within contemplation of theembodiments described herein.

The drives and their associated computer-readable storage media providenonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executableinstructions, and so forth. For the computer 3902, the drives andstorage media accommodate the storage of any data in a suitable digitalformat. Although the description of computer-readable storage mediaabove refers to respective types of storage devices, it should beappreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of storagemedia which are readable by a computer, whether presently existing ordeveloped in the future, could also be used in the example operatingenvironment, and further, that any such storage media can containcomputer-executable instructions for performing the methods describedherein.

A number of program modules can be stored in the drives and RAM 3912,including an operating system 3930, one or more application programs3932, other program modules 3934 and program data 3936. All or portionsof the operating system, applications, modules, and/or data can also becached in the RAM 3912. The systems and methods described herein can beimplemented utilizing various commercially available operating systemsor combinations of operating systems.

Computer 3902 can optionally comprise emulation technologies. Forexample, a hypervisor (not shown) or other intermediary can emulate ahardware environment for operating system 3930, and the emulatedhardware can optionally be different from the hardware illustrated inFIG. 39. In such an embodiment, operating system 3930 can comprise onevirtual machine (VM) of multiple VMs hosted at computer 3902.Furthermore, operating system 3930 can provide runtime environments,such as the Java runtime environment or the .NET framework, forapplications 3932. Runtime environments are consistent executionenvironments that allow applications 3932 to run on any operating systemthat includes the runtime environment. Similarly, operating system 3930can support containers, and applications 3932 can be in the form ofcontainers, which are lightweight, standalone, executable packages ofsoftware that include, e.g., code, runtime, system tools, systemlibraries and settings for an application.

Further, computer 3902 can be enable with a security module, such as atrusted processing module (TPM). For instance with a TPM, bootcomponents hash next in time boot components, and wait for a matchand/or correspond to of results to secured values, before loading a nextboot component. This process can take place at any layer in the codeexecution stack of computer 3902, e.g., applied at the applicationexecution level or at the operating system (OS) kernel level, therebyenabling security at any level of code execution.

A user can enter commands and information into the computer 3902 throughone or more wired/wireless input devices, e.g., a keyboard 3938, a touchscreen 3940, and a pointing device, such as a mouse 3942. Other inputdevices (not shown) can include a microphone, an infrared (IR) remotecontrol, a radio frequency (RF) remote control, or other remote control,a joystick, a virtual reality controller and/or virtual reality headset,a game pad, a stylus pen, an image input device, e.g., camera(s), agesture sensor input device, a vision movement sensor input device, anemotion or facial detection device, a biometric input device, e.g.,fingerprint or iris scanner, or the like. These and other input devicesare often connected to the processing unit 3904 through an input deviceinterface 3944 that can be coupled to the system bus 3908, but can beconnected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, an IEEE 1394serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, a BLUETOOTH®interface, etc.

A monitor 3946 or other type of display device can be also connected tothe system bus 3908 via an interface, such as a video adapter 3948. Inaddition to the monitor 3946, a computer typically includes otherperipheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers, printers, etc.

The computer 3902 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections via wired and/or wireless communications to one or moreremote computers, such as a remote computer(s) 3950. The remotecomputer(s) 3950 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, apersonal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainmentappliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer3902, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device3952 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted includewired/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 3954 and/orlarger networks, e.g., a wide area network (WAN) 3956. Such LAN and WANnetworking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, andfacilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all ofwhich can connect to a global communications network, e.g., theInternet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 3902 can beconnected to the local network 3954 through a wired and/or wirelesscommunication network interface or adapter 3958. The adapter 3958 canfacilitate wired or wireless communication to the LAN 3954, which canalso include a wireless access point (AP) disposed thereon forcommunicating with the adapter 3958 in a wireless mode.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 3902 can includea modem 3960 or can be connected to a communications server on the WAN3956 via other means for establishing communications over the WAN 3956,such as by way of the Internet. The modem 3960, which can be internal orexternal and a wired or wireless device, can be connected to the systembus 3908 via the input device interface 3944. In a networkedenvironment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 3902 orportions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device3952. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areexample and other means of establishing a communications link betweenthe computers can be used.

When used in either a LAN or WAN networking environment, the computer3902 can access cloud storage systems or other network-based storagesystems in addition to, or in place of, external storage devices 3916 asdescribed above, such as but not limited to a network virtual machineproviding one or more aspects of storage or processing of information.Generally, a connection between the computer 3902 and a cloud storagesystem can be established over a LAN 3954 or WAN 3956 e.g., by theadapter 3958 or modem 3960, respectively. Upon connecting the computer3902 to an associated cloud storage system, the external storageinterface 3926 can, with the aid of the adapter 3958 and/or modem 3960,manage storage provided by the cloud storage system as it would othertypes of external storage. For instance, the external storage interface3926 can be configured to provide access to cloud storage sources as ifthose sources were physically connected to the computer 3902.

The computer 3902 can be operable to communicate with any wirelessdevices or entities operatively disposed in wireless communication,e.g., a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, portabledata assistant, communications satellite, any piece of equipment orlocation associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk,news stand, store shelf, etc.), and telephone. This can include WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) and BLUETOOTH® wireless technologies. Thus, thecommunication can be a predefined structure as with a conventionalnetwork or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices.

FIG. 40 is a schematic block diagram of a sample computing environment4000 with which the disclosed subject matter can interact. The samplecomputing environment 4000 includes one or more client(s) 4010. Theclient(s) 4010 can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads,processes, computing devices). The sample computing environment 4000also includes one or more server(s) 4030. The server(s) 4030 can also behardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices).The servers 4030 can house threads to perform transformations byemploying one or more embodiments as described herein, for example. Onepossible communication between a client 4010 and a server 4030 can be inthe form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or morecomputer processes. The sample computing environment 4000 includes acommunication framework 4050 that can be employed to facilitatecommunications between the client(s) 4010 and the server(s) 4030. Theclient(s) 4010 are operably connected to one or more client datastore(s) 4020 that can be employed to store information local to theclient(s) 4010. Similarly, the server(s) 4030 are operably connected toone or more server data store(s) 4040 that can be employed to storeinformation local to the servers 4030.

The present invention may be a system, a method, an apparatus and/or acomputer program product at any possible technical detail level ofintegration. The computer program product can include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention. The computer readable storage medium can be atangible device that can retain and store instructions for use by aninstruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium canbe, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage device, amagnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an electromagneticstorage device, a semiconductor storage device, or any suitablecombination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specificexamples of the computer readable storage medium can also include thefollowing: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random accessmemory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static random access memory(SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digitalversatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanicallyencoded device such as punch-cards or raised structures in a groovehaving instructions recorded thereon, and any suitable combination ofthe foregoing. A computer readable storage medium, as used herein, isnot to be construed as being transitory signals per se, such as radiowaves or other freely propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagneticwaves propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signalstransmitted through a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network can comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device. Computer readable programinstructions for carrying out operations of the present invention can beassembler instructions, instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions,machine instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode,firmware instructions, state-setting data, configuration data forintegrated circuitry, or either source code or object code written inany combination of one or more programming languages, including anobject oriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++, or thelike, and procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programminglanguage or similar programming languages. The computer readable programinstructions can execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on theuser's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user'scomputer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remotecomputer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer can beconnected to the user's computer through any type of network, includinga local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or theconnection can be made to an external computer (for example, through theInternet using an Internet Service Provider). In some embodiments,electronic circuitry including, for example, programmable logiccircuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logicarrays (PLA) can execute the computer readable program instructions byutilizing state information of the computer readable programinstructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order toperform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions. These computer readable programinstructions can be provided to a processor of a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions,which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmabledata processing apparatus, create means for implementing thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks. These computer readable program instructions can also be storedin a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, aprogrammable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to functionin a particular manner, such that the computer readable storage mediumhaving instructions stored therein comprises an article of manufactureincluding instructions which implement aspects of the function/actspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. Thecomputer readable program instructions can also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational acts to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams can represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks can occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successioncan, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks cansometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

While the subject matter has been described above in the general contextof computer-executable instructions of a computer program product thatruns on a computer and/or computers, those skilled in the art willrecognize that this disclosure also can or can be implemented incombination with other program modules. Generally, program modulesinclude routines, programs, components, data structures, etc. thatperform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract datatypes. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that theinventive computer-implemented methods can be practiced with othercomputer system configurations, including single-processor ormultiprocessor computer systems, mini-computing devices, mainframecomputers, as well as computers, hand-held computing devices (e.g., PDA,phone), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer or industrialelectronics, and the like. The illustrated aspects can also be practicedin distributed computing environments in which tasks are performed byremote processing devices that are linked through a communicationsnetwork. However, some, if not all aspects of this disclosure can bepracticed on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules can be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

As used in this application, the terms “component,” “system,”“platform,” “interface,” and the like, can refer to and/or can include acomputer-related entity or an entity related to an operational machinewith one or more specific functionalities. The entities disclosed hereincan be either hardware, a combination of hardware and software,software, or software in execution. For example, a component can be, butis not limited to being, a process running on a processor, a processor,an object, an executable, a thread of execution, a program, and/or acomputer. By way of illustration, both an application running on aserver and the server can be a component. One or more components canreside within a process and/or thread of execution and a component canbe localized on one computer and/or distributed between two or morecomputers. In another example, respective components can execute fromvarious computer readable media having various data structures storedthereon. The components can communicate via local and/or remoteprocesses such as in accordance with a signal having one or more datapackets (e.g., data from one component interacting with anothercomponent in a local system, distributed system, and/or across a networksuch as the Internet with other systems via the signal). As anotherexample, a component can be an apparatus with specific functionalityprovided by mechanical parts operated by electric or electroniccircuitry, which is operated by a software or firmware applicationexecuted by a processor. In such a case, the processor can be internalor external to the apparatus and can execute at least a part of thesoftware or firmware application. As yet another example, a componentcan be an apparatus that provides specific functionality throughelectronic components without mechanical parts, wherein the electroniccomponents can include a processor or other means to execute software orfirmware that confers at least in part the functionality of theelectronic components. In an aspect, a component can emulate anelectronic component via a virtual machine, e.g., within a cloudcomputing system.

In addition, the term “or” is intended to mean an inclusive “or” ratherthan an exclusive “or.” That is, unless specified otherwise, or clearfrom context, “X employs A or B” is intended to mean any of the naturalinclusive permutations. That is, if X employs A; X employs B; or Xemploys both A and B, then “X employs A or B” is satisfied under any ofthe foregoing instances. Moreover, articles “a” and “an” as used in thesubject specification and annexed drawings should generally be construedto mean “one or more” unless specified otherwise or clear from contextto be directed to a singular form. As used herein, the terms “example”and/or “exemplary” are utilized to mean serving as an example, instance,or illustration. For the avoidance of doubt, the subject matterdisclosed herein is not limited by such examples. In addition, anyaspect or design described herein as an “example” and/or “exemplary” isnot necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects or designs, nor is it meant to preclude equivalent exemplarystructures and techniques known to those of ordinary skill in the art.

As it is employed in the subject specification, the term “processor” canrefer to substantially any computing processing unit or devicecomprising, but not limited to, single-core processors;single-processors with software multithread execution capability;multi-core processors; multi-core processors with software multithreadexecution capability; multi-core processors with hardware multithreadtechnology; parallel platforms; and parallel platforms with distributedshared memory. Additionally, a processor can refer to an integratedcircuit, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a digitalsignal processor (DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), aprogrammable logic controller (PLC), a complex programmable logic device(CPLD), a discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardwarecomponents, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. Further, processors can exploit nano-scalearchitectures such as, but not limited to, molecular and quantum-dotbased transistors, switches and gates, in order to optimize space usageor enhance performance of user equipment. A processor can also beimplemented as a combination of computing processing units. In thisdisclosure, terms such as “store,” “storage,” “data store,” “datastorage,” “database,” and substantially any other information storagecomponent relevant to operation and functionality of a component areutilized to refer to “memory components,” entities embodied in a“memory,” or components comprising a memory. It is to be appreciatedthat memory and/or memory components described herein can be eithervolatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile andnonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation,nonvolatile memory can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM(PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM(EEPROM), flash memory, or nonvolatile random access memory (RAM) (e.g.,ferroelectric RAM (FeRAM). Volatile memory can include RAM, which canact as external cache memory, for example. By way of illustration andnot limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM),direct Rambus RAM (DRRAM), direct Rambus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), andRambus dynamic RAM (RDRAM). Additionally, the disclosed memorycomponents of systems or computer-implemented methods herein areintended to include, without being limited to including, these and anyother suitable types of memory.

What has been described above include mere examples of systems andcomputer-implemented methods. It is, of course, not possible to describeevery conceivable combination of components or computer-implementedmethods for purposes of describing this disclosure, but one of ordinaryskill in the art can recognize that many further combinations andpermutations of this disclosure are possible. Furthermore, to the extentthat the terms “includes,” “has,” “possesses,” and the like are used inthe detailed description, claims, appendices and drawings such terms areintended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as“comprising” is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in aclaim.

The descriptions of the various embodiments have been presented forpurposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variationswill be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departingfrom the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminologyused herein was chosen to best explain the principles of theembodiments, the practical application or technical improvement overtechnologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinaryskill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system, comprising: a processor that executescomputer-executable instructions stored in a memory, which causes theprocessor to: receive, from an electronic beacon of a point-of-saledevice, context data characterizing a transaction facilitated by thepoint-of-sale device; generate a quick response (QR) code based on thecontext data and based on financial instrument data, such that thecontext data and the financial instrument data are embedded within orcorrelated to the QR code; and visually render the QR code on anelectronic display, such that the QR code is scannable by thepoint-of-sale device.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the context dataindicates a geo-location of the transaction.
 3. The system of claim 1,wherein the context data indicates a time or date of the transaction. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the context data indicates a product orservice involved in the transaction.
 5. The system of claim 1, whereinthe context data indicates a price involved in the transaction.
 6. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the context data indicates an identifiercorresponding to a merchant involved in the transaction.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the point-of-sale device scans the QR code visuallyrendered on the electronic display, wherein the point-of-sale devicetransmits both the QR code and known characteristics of the transactionto a payment processing system, wherein the payment processing systemdetermines that the context data embedded within or correlated to the QRcode is consistent with the known characteristics of the transaction,and wherein the payment processing system instructs the point-of-saledevice to accept the financial instrument data.
 8. The system of claim1, wherein the point-of-sale device scans the QR code visually renderedon the electronic display, wherein the point-of-sale device transmitsboth the QR code and known characteristics of the transaction to apayment processing system, wherein the payment processing systemdetermines that the context data embedded within or correlated to the QRcode is not consistent with the known characteristics of thetransaction, and wherein the payment processing system instructs thepoint-of-sale device to refuse to accept the financial instrument data.9. A system, comprising: a processor that executes computer-executableinstructions stored in a memory, which causes the processor to: maintaintransaction restriction data that defines circumstances under whichfinancial instrument data is valid or circumstances under which thefinancial instrument data is invalid; generate a quick response (QR)code based on the transaction restriction data and the financialinstrument data, such that the transaction restriction data and thefinancial instrument data are embedded within or correlated to the QRcode; and visually render the QR code on an electronic display, suchthat the QR code is scannable by a point-of-sale device.
 10. The systemof claim 9, wherein the transaction restriction data includesgeo-fencing restrictions that define geo-locations at which thefinancial instrument data is valid or that define geo-locations at whichthe financial instrument data is invalid.
 11. The system of claim 9,wherein the transaction restriction data includes temporal restrictionsthat define times at which the financial instrument data is valid orthat define times at which the financial instrument data is invalid. 12.The system of claim 9, wherein the transaction restriction data includesproduct or service restrictions that define products or services forwhich the financial instrument data is valid or that define products orservices for which the financial instrument data is invalid.
 13. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the transaction restriction data includesprice restrictions that define prices for which the financial instrumentdata is valid or that define prices for which the financial instrumentdata is invalid.
 14. The system of claim 9, wherein the transactionrestriction data includes merchant identity restrictions that definemerchant identities for which the financial instrument data is valid orthat define merchant identities for which the financial instrument datais invalid.
 15. The system of claim 9, wherein the point-of-sale devicescans the QR code visually rendered on the electronic display, whereinthe point-of-sale device transmits both the QR code and knowncharacteristics of the transaction to a payment processing system,wherein the payment processing system determines that the knowncharacteristics of the transaction satisfy the transaction restrictiondata embedded within or correlated to the QR code, and wherein thepayment processing system instructs the point-of-sale device to acceptthe financial instrument data.
 16. The system of claim 9, wherein thepoint-of-sale device scans the QR code visually rendered on theelectronic display, wherein the point-of-sale device transmits both theQR code and known characteristics of the transaction to a paymentprocessing system, wherein the payment processing system determines thatthe known characteristics of the transaction fail to satisfy thetransaction restriction data embedded within or correlated to the QRcode, and wherein the payment processing system instructs thepoint-of-sale device to refuse to accept the financial instrument data.17. A system, comprising: a processor that executes computer-executableinstructions stored in a memory, which causes the processor to: maintaintransaction restriction data that defines circumstances under whichfinancial instrument data is valid or circumstances under which thefinancial instrument data is invalid; receive, from an electronic beaconof a point-of-sale device, context data characterizing a transactionfacilitated by the point-of-sale device; determine whether the contextdata satisfies the transaction restriction data; based on determiningthat the context data satisfies the transaction restriction data,visually render a QR code correlated to the financial instrument data onan electronic display, such that the QR code is scannable by thepoint-of-sale device; and based on determining that the context datafails to satisfy the transaction restriction data, refrain from visuallyrendering the QR code on the electronic display, such that the QR codeis not scannable by the point-of-sale device.
 18. The system of claim17, wherein the transaction restriction data includes geo-fencingrestrictions that define geo-locations at which the financial instrumentdata is valid or invalid, and wherein the context data includes ageo-location of the transaction.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein thetransaction restriction data includes temporal restrictions that definetimes or dates at which the financial instrument data is valid orinvalid, and wherein the context data includes a time or date of thetransaction.
 20. The system of claim 17, wherein the transactionrestriction data includes product or service restrictions that defineproducts or services for which the financial instrument data is valid orinvalid, and wherein the context data includes a product or serviceinvolved in the transaction.